Summer 1971, Letters
Saturday July 31st 1971
`Tunie! Tunie!` the redheaded girl yelped as she sprinted up the stairs. `I told you so!`
Lily threw the door open to her elder sister's bedroom, waving the letter with the wax seal frantically in her hand.
`Geez, Lily did nobody tell you to knock!` Petunia spat back at her, sprawled out on her bed, hair up in curlers, and reading a magazine.
`I got in!` Lily waved the piece of parchment in front of her sister's face, who swatted annoyed at it with her hand. `Look, there it says: Lily J. Evans!`
`Into what?` Petunia asked, disinterested, not looking up from her magazine.
`Hogwarts!` Lily said excitedly. `The school Sev told me about!`
`What?` At this, Petunia dropped her magazine on her brightly coloured bedspread and snatched the letter out of Lily`s hand. `Let me see.`
`See,` Lily continued, still over the moon with excitement. `I told you so. It does exist!`
Petunia was frantically scanning the letter with her eyes, a deep frown appearing on her forehead. `No,` she said, `This can`t be. This must be some ridiculous prank that slimy boyfriend of yours is trying to pull.`
`He is not my boyfriend.` Lily spat at her indignantly; she didn`t understand why people always assumed she and Severus were boyfriend and girlfriend. Sure, they spend a lot of time together, but she had never felt about him in that way. `And, it is not a prank, it is real!`
`I don`t believe you.` Petunia replied, her face stony as she handed the letter back to her younger sister.
`Well it is.` Lily responded, her eyes brimming with tears.
Petunia shrugged her shoulders and disappeared back behind her magazine, ignoring Lily.
`Fine.` Lily said angrily, tears flowing over her red-flushed cheeks. `You have it your way then.` She slammed the door shut behind her back. `You`re just jealous!` she yelled through the door. `That I`m a witch and you`re normal!` She heard a loud bang of something being flung against the door.
Filled with rage, she stomped down the stairs again, trying to shrug her sister's response off her shoulders. That was easier said than done; she had been so excited to share the news and now all her cheer had been let down - as if someone had punctured a helium balloon, which had been floating in her chest. Petunia had been the first person Lily had wanted to tell, now she felt discouraged to tell her parents, or even Severus for that matter, though, she knew for certain that they would all be happy for her.
While she walked along the hallway towards the living room - where she would find her parents - Lily briskly wiped the tears off her cheeks - the skin still glowing hot from anger and frustration. The only thing Lily had been able to think about for the whole of the summer holidays had been Hogwarts - that mystical and mysterious school that Severus had told her all about. She had been anxiously awaiting her letter, impatient to prove to her parents, Petunia, and probably also herself, that it was all real.
When Lily had first exhibited signs of magic, her parents had been somewhat afraid; they hadn`t understood how Lily was able to make the flower in her hand open and close with purely the will of her mind. But as soon as they came to the understanding that Lily`s magic was nothing to be afraid of and Lily wasn`t possessed by some evil spirit that their church had warned them about, they softened towards it and eventually even became proud of their daughters abilities.
Petunia had known about Lily's magical abilities before their parents had; she had been spying on Lily and Severus on the playground and when Lily had shown Severus the same trick she had later on shown their parents, she had come pelting out of the bushes, calling her a freak and yelling at her. Lily had cried then, not understanding why something that made her so happy could make her sister hate her. As Lily had sobbed, Severus had tried to convince her that Petunia had been jealous, that she just didn`t understand Lily as he did, that she wasn`t special like them - as he called it.
Lily smoothed her dress and took a deep breath before pushing through the door into the living room, conjuring a smile on her face, determined not to let her sister's disappointing reaction spoil her entire day.
Her parents were sitting on the couch - her father hidden behind the newspaper and her mother working on a patchwork quilt.
`Hello love,` her mother said, looking up from her quick working hands.
`Mom, dad,` Lily said shyly, clutching the letter firmly in her hands; she could feel it slipping between her sweaty fingers. `It came, erm...my letter came.`
Now her dad also looked up from his newspaper, folding it closed and putting it down on the side table.
`My Hogwarts letter, I mean,` she continued, having a hard time keeping her voice levelled. `You know the school I told you about? The school that Sev told me about.`
`Did it really?` her dad said, the slightest hint of surprise in his voice.
Nodding shyly Lily walked across the carpet towards her parents, holding the folded up parchment out in front of her. Her mother scooted to the side to make room for her to sit between the two of them. She folded the letter open and let her parents read along over her shoulders, their slow steady breaths tickling the back of her neck.
`Oh Lily, I`m so proud of you!` her mother said beaming, putting an arm around her and squeezing her tightly against her soft chest.
`Well done Lils.` her father said, kissing her cheek, she could feel his stubbles against her skin and she giggled.
`This only means I can start school.` she said softly, blushing. `I mean, haven`t accomplished anything yet. I might absolutely stink at magic.` She laughed, tucking her hair behind her ears.
`Oh I doubt that.` her mom answered, still holding onto Lily.
`We`re proud of you either way.` her dad added, scanning over the letter another time. `Who would have thought, a witch in the family!`
Later in the afternoon there was a short buzzing of their doorbell and Lily hurried towards it to open it, she was sure it would be Severus, also having received his acceptance letter.
She and Severus had known eachother since she was nine. Before that she had only heard rumours about his family. The Snape family lived on Spinner`s end, a neighbourhood at walking distance from her own home. Spinner`s end was a poor neighbourhood and in combination with them being regarded as rather odd, she was always told to stay clear of the Snape`s and especially their little boy, Severus. However, Severus had been observing her when she had been doing magic in secret in the little patch of grass between the blocks of houses, obscured by trees and thinking nobody would find out. He had told her she was a witch and over the last two years he had told her all about the magical world and, of course, about Hogwarts, the school where she was supposed to learn it all. Severus himself was a wizard and apparently came from a long line of wizards, he was evidently very proud of this, Lily didn`t really understand why.
With a yank she pulled open the front door and was faced with a pale boy with shoulder length black hair that was plastered to his head.
`Did you get it?` Severus asked immediately.
Lily nodded excitedly holding up her letter. `Yes, did you?` she responded.
Severus held up his own copy. `Obviously.`
`I still can`t believe it.` Lily gushed as she ushered him into the hallway, closing the door behind the boy. `Me, going to Hogwarts! I`m buzzing with excitement! Aren`t you excited?`
`I suppose so.` Severus said, grinning slightly. `Did you tell your sister?` he asked.
`Yes.` Lily said, swallowing as she poured them both a glass of lemonade from a pitcher that her mother had put out on the counter.
`How did she react?` Severus inquired, sipping slowly on the pink coloured liquid.
`She- Erm, fine.` Lily said, forcing a smile. `She`s happy for me.` She could feel her cheeks ache.
***
There was a man standing on her doorstep. Not just any man, but a tall man with an enormous white beard, wearing a bizarre dress and a hat that she only recognized from the comic books that she had seen in shopwindows. He peered at her from over his halfmoon spectacles; his piercing blue eyes had a certain penetrating ability and Mary felt as though he was looking right through her.
`I`m sorry.` Mary said. `I don`t have any spare change.` She supposed he was there to collect money for some good cause or other, though, she couldn`t spot a collecting box on him.
She already started to close the door to their flat, however, the old man didn`t budge and kept standing in front of her - all serenity and white flowing hair.
`Are your parents at home Miss MacDonald?` the man asked her. Mary cowered back; how did he know her name? They didn`t have a sign with their family name plastered on their door as far as she knew.
Slowly Mary shook her head, cautiously looking up at him; could she trust this stranger who had suddenly appeared on her doorstep? How had he even gotten into the building, she wondered, was he a neighbour she didn`t know about? She looked at his odd dress; it mustn’t have been easy to climb all those stairs wearing that monstrosity - and he must have, since the elevator had been broken since May.
`Could I come in for a moment and wait with you until your parents return?` he asked.
Mary kept firmly clutching the door, in her mind she quickly thought about the quickest way to get help. She was sure that if she would scream her neighbours would hear her and old Ms. Robinson was always at home. However, now she thought about it, she wasn`t so sure that old bitty would be able to rescue her from this otherworldly man.
`You needn`t be afraid, Miss MacDonald.` the man said reassuringly. Mary rolled her eyes, yeah right, that was convincing.
The man reached into a pocket of his strange looking clothes and for a moment Mary though he would pull out a gun, but instead a thick parchment letter with a wax seal appeared. He handed it to her and gingerly she accepted it. To her great surprise, it was addressed to her and she tore at the envelope to look at the innards.
`My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore.` the man said as Mary frantically read the letter she had been able to produce out of the envelope. `I`m the headmaster of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.`
Mary`s mouth was standing slightly ajar and she looked disbelieving from the man, claiming to be some sort of professor, to the letter in her hand telling her she was, in fact, a witch. `But-` she stammered.
`Now, Miss McDonald.` Professor Dumbledore said. `Would you please let me in. And I`ll explain it all while we wait for your parents to come home.`
Completely astonished, Mary nodded and stepped to the side to let the man in.
`Could I- Erm-` she stammered. `Could I offer you something to drink while we wait?`
`Oh yes, that would be lovely.` Dumbledore said, stroking his beard and taking off his hat now they were inside. `Tea, three lumps of sugar and a twinge of milk if you have it. I have a sweet tooth.` he shrugged.
Filling up the kettle in the kitchen, Mary once again read the letter, she a witch, what kind of ludicrous prank was this? She heard the professor, if he even was a professor, pottering about in the living room. Suddenly she doubted if she should have even let him into the flat, he could be dangerous for all she knew. She couldn`t understand why he hadn`t come when her parents were at home. Worrying frantically she could only imagine how her parents would react to this. One way or another, she would have to deal with this little predicament.
With the teacup wobbling precariously on a tray she entered the living room again. Having decided she would take the reins into her own hands, she felt a little more confident. If he was a wizard, as he said he was, he could show her, now couldn`t he? She chastised herself for not having thought about that sooner.
With a bang she set the tray down on the wicker coffee table. `I want you to prove to me that you are a wizard.` She said firmly.
`Okay,` the man said nonchalantly and pulled a thin stick out of his pocket. With a swish he was able to produce a flame that he let dance around in the palm of his hand.
Mary`s eyes widened slightly, but she still didn`t feel convinced, any old magician could play with fire. `I still don`t believe you. Make something else happen.` she demanded.
Without saying as much as a word the man flicked his wand and instantly the coffee table started levitating of the floor and with another flick the cup of tea started stirring itself, the sugar lumps plonking themselves into the scalding hot liquid.
`Okay, okay enough.` Mary said, she didn`t want the man to make a mess. `I believe you.`
Utterly gobsmacked she sat down in the chair opposite Dumbledore and stared at him, he was a real-life wizard. She still wasn`t entirely convinced that she was a witch, that would be a hoot, she thought. That would teach the kids at school picking on her.
`How do you know I`m a witch?` she asked, looking curiously as the man sipped on his tea.
`Have you never made something unexplainable happen. When you were, say, really angry, or scared?`
Mary wanted to shake her head, but before she could do so a memory she had pushed to the back of her mind resurfaced. It had been about five years ago, a couple of kids had been chasing her around the school yard and screaming obscenities at her. She was the only black kid at her primary school and the others made sure she knew it. They had been teasing her about her hair, comparing her to a charred dandelion. Finally she had been able to escape them and hidden herself away in a corner of the playground. However, after a couple of minutes she had heard them approaching again and had closed her eyes firmly, whishing and praying that she could be invisible so they wouldn`t see her. When she had opened her eyes again they had stood in front of her looking down. Mary had been terrified, however, the oddest thing had happened, it was as though they weren`t really looking at her, but rather though her, at the fence behind her.
Slowly Mary`s eyes widened and her mouth fell open at the remembrance of the bizarre occurrence. `Just as I thought.` the headmaster nodded contently.
The old man kept serenely drinking his tea, every now and again looking up at her from behind his spectacles. Mary`s head was buzzing with questions, but she felt herself unable to open her mouth to ask them.
`Lemon drop?` the headmaster asked, producing a paper bag out of one of his many pockets.
Still astonished she nodded and quietly accepted a sweet to pop it into her mouth and suck slowly on it, the slightly sour taste hitting her tastebuds.
When Dumbledore left the flat again, Mary had gone into her room and buried herself underneath her duvet cover, needing a place to collect her thoughts. Her parents had been absolutely shocked to find the long white bearded man sitting on their couch and had at first resorted to screaming at Mary for letting him in. Finally Dumbledore had been able to calm them down and after various explanations and demonstrations they had calmed and actually had taken the news quite well.
Mary still couldn`t believe it, she felt giddy with excitement. She was a witch and she would be going to this marvellous magic school with other kids like her. Giggling quietly she thought about how she would no longer be an outcast, she would be whisked away from all the horrible kids at school and she would finally be somewhere where she would fit in. It was as if a warm fire had started burning inside her chest and she hugged her arms around her body as she let out a content sigh.
***
The owl must have gotten lost; Marlene thought; maybe it had just taken a wrong turn, or been swept away by a gush of wind; maybe it had been delivered, but she just hadn`t been paying enough attention and it had slid underneath the couch or something. Aye, maybe that was it. There could be a million reasons for it not being there yet.
Marlene hated that she was worrying so much about this. She knew she was a witch; she knew she would be going to Hogwarts; her mother's whole family had gone to Hogwarts - for centuries even. There was no reasonable explanation for why she wouldn`t. Nevertheless, at the back of her mind, there was this wee voice that was telling her that she wasn`t good enough, that she didn`t have the abilities to do it.
Almost her whole family had been - and still were - excellent wizards and witches - always excelling in their fields of choosing. Her mother had been an excellent student in her day and her older brother, Danny, who had only left Hogwarts the previous year, had been a prefect and was now well on the road to play professional quidditch for the Chudley Cannons. All in all, she felt that if she didn`t live up to the expectations her predecessors had set, she would be a complete and utter failure.
Their cat sauntered into the sunlit kitchen and rubbed itself against Marlene`s legs; she crouched down and it started purring contently as she rubbed its back absentmindedly.
Suddenly, someone outside cheered loudly; Marlene stood up straight again to walk through the glass doors onto the patio. Danny was flying loops around the yard, flinging quaffles at the goalposts that stood erect on the lawn - his robes billowing behind him as he gathered speed.
Marlene shielded her eyes from the sun as she peered up at him; ever since she was little she had envied the gracefulness her brother exhibited when he was up in the air on his broom.
After a couple of minutes, Danny noticed her standing down on the lawn; he slowed his broom to lower his flight.
`Still no letter, eh?` he called out to her.
Marlene shook her head in disappointment.
`Don`t fret about it,` he said, coming to a full stop in front of her. `It`ll come later today, or otherwise tomorrow.`
`Aye, right.` Marlene answered, picking at a lose thread on her shorts.
`Oi, chin up,` Danny said, ruffling Marlene`s hair. `No way, they`re going to forget ye.`
Marlene grinned up at her older brother; another thing she was dreading about Hogwarts: having to leave her brother behind. They had been ever so close since she could remember and she was sure it would be unbearable to be away from him.
`Do ye want to practise beating the bludgers around a wee bit?` Danny asked. `Mammy and Andrew aren`t at home?` Their mother and stepdad didn`t like it as much when their ten year old daughter would soar through the air, hitting essentially a rogue cannonball with a bat. Consequently, she and Danny would do it in secret whenever they weren`t at home.
An excited fizzing feeling started up in Marlene`s stomach; she was planning on going out for the quidditch team at Hogwarts as soon as she was competent enough. Danny had been helping her over the summer to get a head start on her future classmates. She wondered in what house she would be placed and what the other students would be like.
`Just let me put on something more appropriate and get my broom.` she answered, before sprinting back inside.
In her room she quickly pulled on an old pair of robes, which her brother had kindly gifted to her when he had grown out of them. She had had to alter them so they would fit her better, but every time she wore them, she felt like she was already on the quidditch team. Looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror perched against the wall of her bedroom, she pulled her long blonde hair up into a tight ponytail. The walls of her room were entirely covered in posters from various famous quidditch players and a couple of music artists she liked to listen to.
Tying her shoes, she started to wonder if there would be other girls at Hogwarts who were into the things she was into - people she could bond with over shared interests - it needn`t necessarily be girls. Since she had grown up with a brother, most of her interests and hobbies had overlapped with his and it had sometimes been hard for her to connect to other girls her age, who sometimes seemed to have nothing other on their minds but which member of The Beatles was the dreamiest or which boy in their town they fancied. It wasn`t necessarily that Marlene thought herself different from other girls, she praised herself to be exactly like other girls and she admired them a great deal, however, sometimes it felt like she was missing something that all the other girls seemed to understand.
With a final tug on her ponytail she ventured back outside, grabbing her broom from the closet underneath the stairs; like most of her quidditch supplies, that as well had belonged to Danny before it had been hers. But she didn`t complain, it was a fine broom.
`Ready Marls?` her brother asked. He had already freed the bludgers from their case and tossed a bat her way, which she caught skilfully out of the air.
Holding onto her broom with one hand and the other clutching the bat, Marlene kicked off and rose up into the air. Her long ponytail flapped freely behind her in the wind and Marlene could part of the anxiety she had felt before leave her body. There, high up above the lawn, she felt the most at peace - as if the world beneath her stood still for a moment.
`Now, grip the bat tightly and make sure ye know which way ye want to hit the bludger, not only hitting it just to hit it.` Danny called out to her over the roaring of the wind in her ears. `Ye don`t want to accidentally hit someone off their broom.`
`Aye, yeah, I know.` Marlene shouted back, agitated. `We`ve gone over this a million times. Just let the bludger go. I`ll hit it.`
Danny rolled his eyes, but let go of the squirming ball; it shot in Marlene`s direction. She pulled her arm back, though, she missed the bludger by a hair and almost lost her balance. Marlene scolded herself inwardly; she could have had that one.
`It`s okay,` Danny called. `We`ll try again.` He summoned the bludger with a flick of his wand.
With a nimble swing of her arm she knew to hit the bludger squarely on its surface; it shot in a straight line through one of the hoops originally meant for the quafle.
Danny whooped and flew a loop around Marlene. `Well done Marls! Marlene McKinnon with another banger!` He grinned excitedly at her. `Ye`ll make a fine beater - mark my words.`
Grinning contently Marlene tossed the bat in the air and caught it again with her hand. `Alright, again.` she said.
The bludger came soaring her way again and she already lifted her arm to give it a whack when Danny suddenly screamed. `Oi, watch out!`
Marlene turned around and saw a huge owl coming their way, holding a letter in it`s beak. `My letter!` she yelped and panicked. As not to hit the owl, she hit the bludger entirely the other way, where it collided with their house and shattered one of the windows. Marlene groaned, yet was just in time to catch the letter that the owl dropped from above her.
The two siblings headed for the lawn and sprung off their brooms at almost exactly the same time.
`I`m so, so sorry!` Marlene mumbled apologetically. `I didn`t mean to hit the window.`
`Hey,` Danny answered laughing, clapping her shoulder, which made her knees buckle from impact. `At least ye didn`t hit that bleeding owl.`
`Aye…` Marlene said, grinning, now gazing down in amazement at the letter in her hands. It had the familiar seal on it and her name, her very own name, next to the Hogwarts logo.
`Welcome to the club.` Danny said jovially as he put one arm around her to give her a sideways hug. `Now, let me go fix that window.`
///