Evergreen

The letter was stupid. This entire situation was stupid.

When Lenore Evergreen woke up that morning she had expected the usual breakfast in bed, the birthday cake, the attempt to shove her head in the cake and the birthday gifts. The Birthday Usual. She got it of course, her morning had been going great! She got the schoolday off, which was a tradition in her family she wasn’t going to pass on, and they were planning on going to an amusement park after she cleaned her face from the birthday cake and out of her long auburn hair. Her sister, who did have to go to school, was already off.

And then The Situation happened.

An old cranky and severe looking lady, dressed in what Lenore had initially assumed was a costume, had been at the door. She had introduced herself as Professor McGonagoll and had promptly informed her she was a witch. Yeah, No Shit. The real suprise had been the letter, which was followed by a school, which was followed by a secret society.

As her parents sat professor McGonagall down in the living room, Lenore could only think one thing. There was no way in hell they were still going to that amusement park.

Professor McGonagall, after having a nice cuppa, gave her the Letter. "While i’m sure you’re all very confused as to what’s going on, i can assure that reading the letter first will explain quite a few things. No really ms. Evergreen, once your daughter has read the letter i will be quite able to explain the situation.” The letter looked ridiculous, the stamp alone looked like it came straight from a movie se. it was made entirely of parchment and she felt sorry for the poor cow that died for this bullshit. The letter read the following:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(order of merlin, first class, grand sorc. Chf. Warlock, supreme Mugwump, international confed. Wizards)

Wow, there’s a lot to unpack in that alone. What even is a mugwump? It sounds more like a worm than a wizard. The Supreme Mugworm

Dear ms. Evergreen

There was quite a large smudge on her name. Ironically enough that was another consistent weirdness in her life, somehow her name always got smudged or misspelled. A couple of her teachers even insisted that her name was never on the roll call list, no matter how many times they added it.

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

The supply list looked ridiculous. Was she seriously expected to wear a pointy head? What’s next, a broomstick and a toad? Oh, wait. And there weren't any normal topics covered either. Did this mean she'd never have to learn algebra?

Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

It was currently May 26st, how early do they send these things? also, owl? What ?

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress.

Well that didn’t explain Anything At All.

The room was quite silent as she read the letter. She read it 5 times probably before she finally dared to react. “How many people usually sign up for this?”

“On average i’d say we have about 40 children a year, but the last few years class sizes have been smaller”

“Mmhhmm, and do you hand deliver these letters to everyone? Must be pretty exhausting” She could tell the professor didn’t appreciate the cheek, but she didn’t care, she didn’t sign up for this shit.

“In a way you are a special case, ms Evergreen. Normally we would send an owl, however you come from a muggle family. We at Hogwarts have the privilege to introduce Muggleborns, such as you, to the wizarding world and answer any questions we can. Should your parents permit it, i would like to take you to Diagon Alley some time soon and show you our world. –“

“Your world.”

“Pardon?” McGonagalls eyes widened momentarily. She looked a little astonished at being interrupted.

“I’m very sorry for having wasted your trip, professor, but i did not sign up for this. I’m actually quite happy where i am.”

“Lenore,” Her father didn’t sound too happy, nor was he angry. It was way worse, he sounded disappointed. “don’t you think you should at least hear the professor out? This could be your only chance to connect with your heritage.”
Her father was a little obsessed with her “heritage” in her opinion. This was because mr. Evergreen was a capital n, Nerd. He’d always been the one to dissect every fantasy book he could find. If she didn’t know what to give him for father’s day, she’d usually get some dumb book about vampires and he’d be over the moon. She dreaded the day he realised that he could probably write his own fantasy books. This whole Situation was probably a dream come true for him. Or a nightmare.

“It’s quite alright mr. Evergreen. I understand this must be quite the shock. I should like to inform you however, ms. Lenore, that you do have to go to a wizarding school even if it is not Hogwarts. If you do not wish to do so the Ministry of Magic will have to bind your magic, which might be a little painfull”

Lenore’s magic violently hummed in protest. It took all the breathing exercises she knew to reign it in and stop it from attacking the professor. She did not like professor McGonagall, she decided. Who shows up to someone’s house, on their birthday, to inform them they’re being drafted into some weird hokus pokus society? And who the fuck was the Ministry of Magic?

Her discomfort must’ve been obvious, because her mother asked: “And what exactly would be taught at this ”Hogwarts”

“Excellent question ms. Evergreen! We teach quite a few subjects: transfiguration, history, defense against the dark arts, herbology, potions, charms, astronomy and quite a few more electives after third year. We also offer after school clubs and are always happy to encourage our students to delve further into the subjects,-“ As the professor started rattling on about her warty hog or whatever, Lenore could see her parents slowly being taken in. Shit. She was going to have to go, wasn’t she?

“- And of course the hufflepufs are very welcoming to any first years in their Plant Club”

“What The Hell Is A Hufflepuff?”
...................................................................................................................................
In the end it was decided that they would go to the secret wizarding shopping centre that same day, McGonagall was pleasantly surprised that that was an option and promptly shoved them all out door and on the train to London.

The train was Lenore’s idea, McGonagall had wanted to use some instant bus thing but Lenore seriously needed some normalcy. The train trip was extremely awkward. The professor did not seem to know at all how the “muggle” system worked and repeatedly kept marveling at how “well adjusted muggles are”

The term was quickly explained as meaning “non wizard”, and to be quite honest Lenore was a little offended. Her parents were muggles. The professor didn’t seem to notice that she was subtly repeatedly calling them lesser than wizards. Neither did her parents. Lenore however decided that this was another strike in the “Cons of Wizarding World” column, right next to Hogwarts being a boarding school.

During the train ride McGonagall explained a few important things. Such as how Hogwarts worked, the wizarding money system, where they would go during their trip, what to expect, do’s and dont’s, and quite a few other things. It was honestly overwhelming. She wished her sister was here, at least then she could bitch about the situation with someone. How the hell where they going to explain all this to sarah anyway? This train ride was stupid, she decided.

When they arrived in London and herded the professor through muggle traffic it suddenly occurred to the evergreens that they had no clue where this “diagon alley” actually was. It quickly became apparent that this was the norm for muggle parents. Seeing as the entrance was hidden in a pub they couldn’t even seen. How were muggle parents supposed to help their wizard children shop like this? It seemed terribly inefficient.

The Leaky Cauldron, as the pub was called, was pretty busy. After holding her parents hands to guide them in, they had to wrangle their way through the crowd to a small door at the back. Lenore who was quickly getting overwhelmed from the hum and buzz from the pub was glad to find the small room was atleast empty. Well i say room but it was more like a small dingy alley. The professor quickly tapped a few bricks in a rythm Lenore was sure she was supposed to remember and instantly forgot.

“Welcome to your new world, ms. Lenore”

And there it was, Diagon Alley
In a word? Overwhelming. Beautifull. Overwhelmingly Beautiful.

The Hum and buzz from the pub, Lenore realised, was not from the actual people. It was the magic. The same magic she could faintly feel from the professor. The same magic she could feel from herself. The same magic she could feel from diagon alley. And by god did the alley hum with magic. It was like a cacophony of small sounds mixed together to form one beautiful song. Everything had its own little Hum. From the strange boots the wizard next to them was wearing to the signs hanging from the shops.

For the first time in her life she felt as if she truly Belonged. At the same time she felt incredibly out of place.

As the professor weaved them through the crowds Lenore noted that everyone seemed to be dressed in the same style as McGonagall. Save for a few stragglers that were obviously gawking, the same way her parents were. They must've been muggles too. It was nice to know they weren't the only ones there.

The alley was filled to the brink with little and big shops. She spotted apothercary’s, broom stores, cauldron stores, stationary stores, robe stores and many more tha she didn’t even know how to describe. There were in fact a lot of items and gadgets she couldn’t hope to describe. There were also a few smaller alleyways connected to the diagon, she noticed. Vertick Alley, Knockturn Alley, Horizont Alley, It Alley, Leth Alley, Verb Alley, Dramatik Alley. Clearly these people had a theme going. In a way she felt as if she was visiting another country, and her tour guide didn’t realise just how much she didn’t know.

McGonagall clearly knew her way around the alley. A few people even attempted to greet her and chat, but she shoed them away. This must really be like a popular wizarding shopping centre if even the severe professor was on a first name basis with the shopkeeps.

Eventually they stopped at a huge marble building. It had a few weird looking toddlers? In armor? Guarding the door.

“10 bucks says that’s the bank” she heard her mother whisper to her father, the absolute sucker took the deal.

“here we are,” professor McGonagall started “Gringotts Bank, where wizards do their banking,” Her father subtly handed over the dough. “Alright, it is important to note that Gringotts is run by the British Goblins. We’ve had quite a few skirmishes with them and as a result they don’t exactly like us, they’ll be respectful as long as you remain respectful as well. It’s best of you let me do the talking.”

Lenore wondered how many “skirmishes” they must’ve had for the goblins to look so disdainfully at them. They looked as if they’d rather be doing anything else than guarding the door. They also looked toddler sized with wrinkles like her late Grandpa Ernie, and with claws like grandpa’s demon cat. The mix was normally not a good look but these guys made it work.

They entered the building and ended up at the counter at the end of the hall, the receptionist? The receptionist took one look at McGonagall and his face soured immediately. Like he just ate a lemon. "Reason for visit." It was probably supposed to be a question, but it certainly didn’t sound like one. She liked these creatures. She could relate to not wanting to be here.

“Greetings, we are here to open a Minority Wizarding Account for ms. Lenore Evergreen. I will be her Magical Representative, on Hogwarts accountability”

“hnggg, Nashclaw! We’ve got another Hogwarts one for yah” Nashclaw, appeared to be another goblin, he was wearing a velvet robe with the Hogwarts crest on small patch attached to it. He led them to one of the many separate doors, inside was a small office and another goblin seeted at a desk.

“Evergreens, Hogwarts professor, you will wait here and discuss the funding of ms. Evergreens vault with Barnwit. Ms Evergreen will come with me.”

Clearly goblins didn’t like questions. She could relate to that. Goblins, she found, were very relatable when she was pissed. Her parents seemed momentarily unsettled with being separated, but the professor quickly cut in to assure them this was normal procedure. As she followed Nashclaw into the next room she could hear them get down to business.

The normal procedure wasn’t all that interesting. All she really had to do was drop some blood on a parchment. The parchment then turned the blood into ink and started forming some legal jargon she didn’t care about. The ritual knife was way cooler. It was made with a mix of silver and gold that curled around each other like ink. The handle was made of a beautiful leather, when she looked closer she could see small runes and sygils worked into a pattern around the edges. While she was preoccupied inspecting the knife Nashclaw had started looking over the parchment.

She didn’t notice something was wrong until he turned to look at her. He had paled 6 shades and looked ready to vomit. He might’ve vomited a little in his mouth actually. "Ms. Evergreen? Are you aware that the people you came here with aren’t your parents?”

Ooooohhhh. He was breaking out the big guns. Question marks.

“Yes, i’m aware im adopted. Thank you very much”
“Are you aware of your blood relations?”
“Nope.”
“I see... ms. Evergreen you are, through blood relations, entitled to several vaults of high ranking.”

She wasn’t sure what to say that. She’d figured her bio-parents were wizards, but it hadn’t occurred to her that they might’ve left something for her. Did that mean they were dead? Or where they alive after all? This might be her only shot at finding out who they were. On one hand she could be rich if she opened the vault. On the other hand she would forever be burdened with the knowledge with what happened to her bio-parents. If they really abandoned her on the door steps of the worlds worst orphanage, without even leaving a note to tell them what her name was. She could find out, within seconds, what her birth name was. Her magic rioted and revolted at the thought.

“Nah, don’t need it”
“Pardon?”
“I said i don’t need it. My parents are in the room next to us. I don’t need or want more than that. I mean of course i’d like to be rich and stuff, but i can figure that out on my own.”
“Very well then, your new vault number is 7337. Here is your key, Gringotts will provide a second one for a small fee should you wish it. Only those of blood relations or magical relations are entitled to inheriting your vault in the event of your death. Gringotts will happily be of service should you wish to invest your money, for a small fee of course”

As she was led back to her family, she decided that she would not tell them about the conversation. They would want to know. They’d probably claim that it was part of her heritage or something. That was stupid. She knew who her parents were, they were Helen and Adrian Evergreen, and that was enough.