First Year
June:
Lily’s Hogwarts letter arrives, carried by Professor Flitwick. Sev’s arrives by owl the following day, and a week later, when his mother first discusses going into Diagon Alley for supplies, his father goes into a rage, leaving Sev staying at Lily’s again. It’s then that they find Petunia’s letter.
September:
All of the usual introductory school stuff happens. Also, after the Sorting, all of the Muggleborn students are given the use of an owl to send word to their parents about their House, etc. They are told that the owl will return with a response by morning.
The second class of the year is Charms, and Lily loves it. She’s paired with Remus, and they immediately understand each other. She thrills in having a partner who is as studious as herself. That Sunday night is the first full moon of the schoolyear (NB this is true; September 5, 1971.) The he third time he misses class due to “illness”, Lily goes to see him in the Hospital Wing, and brings him the Charms notes, promising that she’ll help him catch up with anything he needs, and says that if he’s sick a lot, she’ll be his Charms partner forever. “Then you’ll never have to worry about falling behind.” Remus is touched.
. . . . . . . .
The third week of school, Lily has her first really bad experience with prejudice. She was wandering down the path to the greenhouses when some Slytherins heading to Care of Magical Creatures pushed her off it into the mud, with taunts of “Stay down there where you belong, Mudblood!”
A Hufflepuff named Miriam Strout comes along and helps Lily up. She tells her very seriously that she should get the professor to heal her scrapes, explaining that she wants to be a Healer just like her mum. She’s not very observant, constantly tripping over things and nearly hitting Lily with her flailing arms.
Alice is very concerned with her state and fusses over Lily, while Potter shouts an “Oi, Evans! What in the name of Merlin happened to you? Have a bad run-in with a mud puddle?”
Miriam speaks up before Lily can retort, saying “Some Slytherins, actually. They said it would match her blood.”
Potter turns an ugly shade of puce as gasps and questioning noises spread through the surrounding students. Lily lets out an exasperated breath. Potter breaks the whispers with an unexpected “Who?!”
“What?” Lily and Miriam answer in tandem.
“Who was it? That pushed you?”
Both of them indicate that they don’t know, but Lily asks why he wants to know. He looks at her incredulously.
“So I can make sure they never bloody well so much as look at you again!”
“Mister Potter, language!” Professor Sprout, a kindly, round little woman bustled through the door, jolly even when reprimanding.
The lesson began and the incident was all but forgotten… two days later, however, three second-year Slytherins made quite a spectacle of themselves dancing uncontrollably on jellied legs in the Front Hall.