The Squib House of Evans

August 4, 1975. (Monday)

Lily was down, yesterday, when Petunia came home with the rest of the family. She hid it, but not well enough for her older sister. Petunia wanted to interrogate her so badly! She refrained, however, knowing how Lily was when mulling something over. She suspected it has to do with the Snape boy, but she needed to wait to have confirmation.

Waiting for her sister to open up didn’t mean doing nothing, though. So Petunia told her family she needed to have a day for herself in London, and she left the house after breakfast. Ivy was in charge of distracting Lily from her bad thoughts, begging her to learn magic now that they knew she was magical. With luck, Lily would be more open come the evening.

Letting the Knight Bus behind her, Petunia was entering Diagon Alley for the third day in a row. The first was overwhelming with all the information they got. The second was peaceful and enjoyable. They bought a lot of books, some robes for their parents, some sweets… They even got an owl! The lucky bird was actually rather cute. It was a long-eared owl, with its long ear-tuft looking like horns. Ivy had named her Styx after looking through a book of names they had purchased.

This day was going to be hectic. Petunia planned to meet with Sirius and his friend James. She knew Lily didn’t like them very well, but she also knew it was because of the Snape boy and his rivalry with these boys. She caught the blush on her sister’s cheek when she talked about Potter. And then, she was going to meet the parents of James Potter, to discuss her new Ladyship and all that entailed. Apparently, Euphemia Potter (nee Nott) was a very sharp politician under her sweet exterior. Fleamont Potter was a genius Potion Master and has a head for number so he could help her with her new finances.

“Tuney!” Came the boisterous voice of Sirius Black when she entered the Taliesin Teatime.
“Sirius, hi!” She smiled at the young man when he came, bouncing with happiness.
“Come, I need to introduce you! You’ll see, the Potters are wonderful!”

His happiness was infectious, and Petunia let him take her arm to guide her inside the little tea house. She smiled politely when he introduced her to the little family already seated in an alcove.

“Effie, Monty, Jamesy, this is Petunia Evans, eldest of the Evans’ sisters, and new Lady of House Sayre. Tuney, this is Lady Euphemia, Lord Fleamont and Heir James Potter.”

She tried to curtsy, but Sirius shook his head while masking his smile.

“No need, Tuney, we are in an informal setting. Just nod toward them to acknowledge them,” he fake-whispered loud enough to be heard at the Leaky Cauldron.

Euphemia didn’t bother to hide her grin when Petunia did nod toward them, and her husband chuckled lightly.

“Nice to meet you, Lady Sayre,” she said, inviting the older Evans’ girl to take a sit.
“The pleasure is mine, Lady Potter, Lord Potter, Heir Potter. But you can call me Petunia. I’m not yet familiar with this Lady thing.”
“You can call us by our names too, dearie,” smiled Fleamont. “Tea?”
“Yes, thank you.”

While Fleamont poured them all a cup, James mused.

“I see the resemblance with Lily, knowing you are her sister. But if I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have guessed.”
“Ah, yes. It’s the hair, isn’t it? Lily and Ivy got my father’s hair. I got my mother’s.”
“The eyes too. Yours are more…”
“Dull? I know. Lily’s are vibrant. Ivy’s too. Not mine.”
“No, that’s not it! It’s just… Different? But they are beautiful too!”

Petunia laughed, seeing James trying to not be an ass.

“It’s okay, really. I know that Lily’s eyes are like tiny emeralds in her face. I can’t compare.”

Euphemia was smirking, seeing her son trying to be delicate.

“We know you are enamoured with Lily Evans, James. But Petunia is not here for that,” she chastised a little, loving to see his son’s cheek redden. “Now, dear, you want advice on how to give your House it’s prestige back, isn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am. I know I’m new to all of this. I did not really pay attention to Lily when she droned on and on about the marvels of the magical world, but I know it’s not a playground. I know there is discrimination. Corruption. I know there is a war brewing, if not already starting. And I know someone who tried to stop my little sister and I from discovering our magical abilities. I want to help those who are discriminated for what they are. I want to stop the corruption. I… I sound like an idealist… But I genuinely want to better the magical society. And I know it will not be easy. But I know I need to start with my House. And I need advices.”

Euphemia took her time to mull the words of the young Lady, sipping on her tea. Sirius opened his mouth to say something when he blanched, looking behind Petunia.

“Shi- er. I need to go. Sorry. Just remembered… Lovely seeing you, Tuney! Have a nice day Effie, Monty! See you later, James!”

He quickly kissed Euphemia’s cheek and got up, leaving the tea house in a hurry. Blinking, Petunia decided to take a sip of her tea while Euphemia rolled her eyes.

“That boy, really… Anyway. This is a good start for your journey amongst us, dearie, indeed. You will need to learn a lot of things. Your House history, for a start. Then the magical world history. You will need to learn the etiquette of the nobles world. You will need to learn magic, too. Have you already a plan for this?”
“Not yet. We… We thought we needed to talk to my grandfather first. He was disowned from the Black family, but maybe he has ideas? But I know I’m too old for Hogwarts. Ivy could go, but we don’t want to. The Headmaster… We don’t trust him.”
“It’s a good start, yes. And you’re wise to not trust the Headmaster.”
“Mum!” James exclaimed, a little scandalised.
“We know you idolise him, James. But he is not the affable old man he seems. You do not know him like we do. Like your uncle Charlus do.”
“But… He defeated Grindelwald!”
“Only when he was begged to do it. Albus Dumbledore is many things, James. But he is not a paragon of virtue, of good. He has an agenda behind all that he does. And he has far too much power since it’s defeat of Grindelwald. But the masses are blind.”

Fleamont patted his son’s unruly hair gently.

“We tried to let you make your own opinion of him, son. But you have not inherited your mother’s sharp eyes or cunning, it seems.”
“Well, no, I inherited your dreadful eyes, dad!”
“Ah, yes, that is true. Unfortunately.”

Petunia smirked at the exchange, letting her amusement known, and James played on it a bit afterward. Quickly, however, Euphemia centred the conversation again.

“So, schooling, dearie?”
“For Ivy, I think a full schooling experience is ideal. But not Hogwarts. I do not know of other schools, unfortunately, and Lily barely know more about it. She mentioned Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, I think? Both outside of Britain.”

The older lady hummed under her breath a bit, before sighing.

“Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are the equivalent of Hogwarts, but for France and somewhere in Eastern Europe, respectively. If you are looking for something in Britain -and the magicals called it the Realm of Avalon- you will have some good schools, but not as good as Hogwarts. Even though Hogwarts is certainly not at the top anymore, in the last decades. There are day schools, or even partial boarding schools, with children coming home at the end of each week. There are other boarding schools as well. But all those focus their schooling to certain crafts. If your sister knows what she wants to do, maybe it’s a good solution. She will still struggle to be taken seriously because she will not be a Hogwarts graduate, but she will have a solid foundation for her chosen career.”

Euphemia took a sip of her tea, and continued, more like she was thinking aloud.

“If you are willing to go overseas, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are good solutions. There is also the Accademia Medici, in Italy. Their reputation is a bit… Shady. Because they do not only focus on what the general public call “Light” magic. They are fairly neutral. Their schooling is wide and varied, and pretty much exhaustive. As a graduate from the Accademia Medici, your sister will have many paths to choose from. Not only in Avalon.”

Petunia nodded, committing the name in her memory.

“And you also have the option of other widely known schools, like Mahoutokoro in Japan, or Castelobruxo in the Amazon rainforest. Or Ilvermorny, in the USA. Uagadou, in Africa.”

Even James was listening intently to what his mother said.

“Discuss it with your family. You still have a bit of time before you will need to choose.”

Petunia nodded firmly, before finishing her tea.

“And what about yourself, love?” Asked Fleamont. “Do you not want the full schooling experience too?”
“No sir. I… I’m seventeen already. And I still have a year of muggle schooling to complete before graduating. I want to do well in it. And I think I will hire a tutor. I think I want to do my magical education with one subject at a time. I know that I can’t use a wand freely if I have not at least a… A bird? In a wanded subject.”
“It’s an OWL, dearie. And you are right. Have you given any thoughts to which subject you want to do first?”
“An OWL, yes. Thank you. And… Yes. I think Charms will be the most important. It’s wide and varied in its application, from what I have read in Lily’s books.”
“Very good choice. If you have an OWL in Charms, you will be able to do most things adults mages do. And maybe try a NEWT, while you’re at it. It’s the next stage of exams. And after Charms?”
“I thought maybe Transfiguration. And Potions. And the rest could wait while I learned the history and politics and everything that I need to know of the magical society.”
“It’s a good plan, love. I’m sure Effie is quite amazed with your thinking. Aren’t you, dear?”

Euphemia smiled and nodded.

“Monty is right. This is a fairly good plan. If you want, I can give you a few recommendations for tutors in theses subjects. I can also give you the titles of the most useful books to learns these.”
“That would be really appreciated, ma’am, thank you,” breathed the younger woman, relieved to hear her offer. “Perhaps you can also help me find some books about Magical History, and Laws, and Politics?”
“Certainly. I will send you all that later. I can also include some place to obtain these books. Would you prefer new or second-hand?”
“I have no preference. Thank you.”

Finishing her little cupcake, Petunia smiled. She was a lot more at ease now than she was at the beginning.

“Can I ask if you could, perhaps, tell me a bit about the politics of… Of Avalon? Just an overall summary, nothing too elaborate.”
“Naturally,” smiled Fleamont while James rolled his eyes, clearly bored at the idea of politics. “In short, the political scene is divided in three groups. There is what is commonly called the “Light side”, composed with the more progressive mages. The opposite is called the “Dark side”, composed with more traditional mages. And there is the “Neutral side”, with mages that are a bit of both. Despite what our son wants to believe,” Monty gave James a pointed look, “the Potters are on the Neutral side of things. But his beloved Headmaster advocates for the Light. And this Dark Lord Voldemort is firmly with the Dark.”

Petunia took the time to ponder these answers. She would need to know more about each side before deciding which way she would be voting when she could take her seat in the Wizengamot. When she smiled at Monty, Euphemia took her turn to deepen her husband answer.

“The progressives, or liberals, are trying to “modernise” the magical society. Integrating back with the non-magical people to, at term, make the Statute of Secrecy useless. They want a peaceful integration with the non-magicals. The traditionalists, on the other hand, want to fully separate the two worlds, implementing at term a more rigorous Statute. And the rest of us want to secure our culture and knowledge -all knowledge, be it so called “light” or “dark” magic- and traditions and religion, implement equal rights for all magicals. Creatures or mages, we feel it is in our best interest to have an equal voice, equal rights.”
“But you can’t!” Interrupted James, aghast. “I mean, yeah, some creatures are not as dark as everyone think, but vampires need blood, they will have the right to kill us, then? And hags eat children! They can’t have equal rights, it’s… You can’t!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, son,” corrected the elder Potter. “Vampires need blood, yes. But there is something called “Blood Banks” in the non-magical world. And there are such things like contracts if they want a willing donor. As for the hags, they do not need to eat children. They haven’t, actually, eaten any children since long before the Statute was implemented. These creatures also have their own laws, you know. Their own governments. We do not need to restrain their rights in our society because theirs are already taking care of those who would break their laws.”
“But… Professor Dumbledore is always saying that we need to protect from them! And they make the muggleborns afraid!”
“James,” his mother said. “What your headmaster say is not the law. It’s not the entire truth either. He claims to be the advocate for the mages born from non-magicals, but he does extraordinarily little to back that claim up. And he is on the Wizengamot. All he does is talking prettily to be seen in a good way. I know we don’t discuss politic at home. We thought you had little interest in it. But it seems we will need to revise our stance on the subject…”
“Maybe we can get him a tutor to get him up to speed? I, unfortunately, lack the time to educate him on the subject with all the potions I need to brew before term at Hogwarts start. And you are on you last vacation day from the Auror office.”
“I think you’re right Monty. I will see to it when we get home.”
“No! You can’t! I don’t want to take lessons from a stuffy tutor who will claim that muggleborns are less than pureblood or any of that shit!”
“Language, James,” scolded Euphemia, frowning. “And it will not be like that. You will have an unbiased tutor on all things politics. Maybe Sirius would like to come to you lessons? I will have to send him an owl later, too.”
“I won’t!” Decided James angrily. “You can’t make me.”
“Oh yes, I can, James Fleamont Potter. And I will. And you will pay attention in these classes. Or you will not see your friends until September first,” warned Fleamont.
“I think we need to go home now,” stated Euphemia, silencing her sullen son with a sharp wand movement. “I’m sorry, Petunia, for the way my son is reacting. I will send you these book titles and tutors names. It was genuinely nice to get to know you. Please, don’t take what my hot-headed son had said for truth. He will need some readjustment in his lessons.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Thank you for seeing me today, and for answering my questions.”
“You’re welcome, love. And don’t hesitate to owl us if you want to know anything more. Perhaps you can come for dinner with your parents and sisters before school start again?”
“I will ask them. Thank you!”

The elders Potter, with their unruly son in tow, took their leave, letting Petunia assimilate everything she learned during their tea.

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