Chapter 3
"To Deny and Disparage"
Lily laid on top of her bedspread in a pair of shorts and an old T-shirt that she had taken a pair of scissors to the night before. Now there really wasn’t much left to the shirt, seeing as how Lily had cut off the sleeves and the bottom half.
The air was musty and sticky, and Lily had opened both windows in her bedroom and placed an electric fan on her nightstand, pointing directly at her face.
"Oh," she muttered to herself, "this is unbearable."
She glanced over at the clock sitting on her nightstand and had to crane her neck to see it, as she had placed the fan in front of it. It read 5:08.
Lily let out an exaggerated sigh and got out of bed. She hadn’t been able to sleep all night. Instead she just laid there, dreaming about the year to come, trying desperately to ignore the heat and fall asleep. But now she realized it was pointless. This was going to be a sleepless night, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Lily turned off the fan, unplugged it, then picked it up and carried it over to her desk, where she set it down, plugged it back in and turned it on. Lily sat down on the desk chair, first pushing off a pile of books that had been sitting there, causing them to crash loudly to the floor.
She held her breath and waited for another family member to wake up and ask what was going on, to enter the room to make sure she was alright. But no one came.
"Well, that’s comforting," Lily said aloud. "It’s a good thing I’m not really hurt."
She picked up The Standard Book of Spells (Grade One) and started flipping through it. Of all of her schoolbooks, this one was by far her favorite. But even that wasn’t entertaining her. After flipping through its pages for less than a minute, Lily failed to find anything that caught her interest and set the book down.
Instead, she picked up a pen and started writing a letter to Ophelia. She would have to go downstairs to give it to Rainbow, though. Lily had kept Rainbow in her room the first night she got him, but he made so much noise and drew so much attention to himself all night that he had been banished to the corner of the kitchen ever since.
‘Dear Ophelia,’ Lily began writing. ‘Things are good here, but it is very hot. I don’t know what witches do to cool off, but all Muggles have are fans, and they really don’t work very well.’
Lily read over her two sentences and summarily set down her pen, crumpled the paper into a little ball and tossed it to the floor.
"That was stupid," she muttered to herself. "This girl is your friend, and you’re writing to her, complaining about the weather. That’s the kind of letter you send to your grandmother, not your friend."
She pulled out another piece of paper and tried to think of something poignant and interesting to say. While Lily was thinking, she heard what sounded like footsteps on her front porch. Lily got up out of her chair and walked over the window, which just happened to face the front of the house.
At first, she couldn’t see anything, but then she saw Phillip emerge and start back down the walkway leading to the street.
"Phillip!" she cried in the loudest whisper she could muster. "Phillip!"
Phillip turned around and saw Lily waving at him. His heart dropped into his stomach, where it then began to beat heavily. He felt his hands start to tremble.
"Hey, Lily," he whispered back, loud enough so she could hear him. "What are doing up at this hour?"
"Hold on a second," Lily answered.
She turned around and went over to her wardrobe. She opened it and pulled out another T-shirt, this one having not yet been altered. She put it on over top of the makeshift shirt she was already wearing and pulled on a pair of sneakers, not bothering to find a pair of socks. She pulled her long red hair back into a ponytail and walked over the window. She thought about how grateful she was that Phillip had never again mentioned the owl incident.
"Do you mind if I finish your paper route with you?" she asked.
Phillip’s eyes grew so wide, he was sure they were about to fall out of his head. Luckily it was still dark and Lily couldn’t see any of this, he thought.
"Sure!" he answered her.
"Great!" Lily said. She climbed out of her window and lightly leapt onto the porch roof. She then walked over to the left, where there was a large tree. The closest branch was a good foot away, and Lily had to jump for it. She made the jump, then shimmied herself over to the trunk and climbed down.
Phillip stood amazed.
"I think it probably would have been alright for you to use the front door," he said. "Your parents are probably sound asleep. It would have been less dangerous."
"I know," Lily answered. "But this is faster. Plus, I’ve done it hundreds of times. It’s safe, trust me."
"Whatever," Phillip answered. "I only have seven houses left."
"Then what do you normally do?" Lily asked?
"Go home and go back to bed."
"Well, not today you don’t."
Phillip grinned. "What did you have in mind?"
"Oh, I don’t know," Lily said. "Geoffrey Stevenson has his route around here, doesn’t he?"
"I’m not going to go talk to Geoffrey Stevenson!"
"I didn’t say anything about talking to him, did I?" Lily asked. "The last he told me, he was beating you in the newspaper contest by eight points, and it’s over in two days, isn’t that right?"
"Six points, and today is the last day" Phillip answered.
"Well then, we have to make that number go down a little, don’t we?" Lily responded.
Phillip broke into a huge smile. "I like the way you think, Lily Evans," he said. "Geoffrey should be done by now. He’s usually very punctual. Just let me finish with my seven, and we’ll head over there."
Lily tagged along with Phillip as he finished the rest of his route. They then walked three streets over toward Hereford Lane, where Geoffrey had his route.
"So, I hear you’re going to a private school next year," Phillip said.
"Who told you that?" Lily demanded.
Phillip was slightly taken aback by the hostility in Lily’s tone. It was so out of character. "Your sister," he said, his voice drawn out and hesitant.
"What exactly did she tell you?" Lily demanded again, her voice not changing in tone.
"Um, nothing," Phillip said meekly. "She just said you were going to some boarding school, that’s all.
"Really," he added, noticing the look of disbelief still on Lily’s face.
Lily lightened her mood a little. Her parents had forbidden Petunia from telling anyone what kind of school Lily was really going to, for fear of backlash from the neighbors, but Lily wasn’t putting anything past Petunia these days.
"Sorry," Lily apologized. "I’ve just been on edge lately because I leave tomorrow and I’m nervous, is all. I didn’t mean to snap at you, honest."
"Well, that’s okay. I didn’t …"
All of a sudden, Phillip grabbed Lily’s arm and pulled her behind the nearest bush.
"Phillip?!" Lily exclaimed. "What are you …"
"SSSHHHH!" Phillip said as he held his finger up to his lips. With his other hand, he pointed out past the bush, to the right.
Lily peeked her head around the edge of the bush and saw Geoffrey walking down the street, having just finished his route.
Lily and Phillip stayed hidden behind the bush for a few more minutes, just to make sure Geoffrey had really gone, and when they realized he wasn’t coming back, they emerged from their sanctuary.
"So, what should we do?" Lily asked.
"Don’t ask me," Phillip responded. "I thought you were the one with the plan."
"Well, no matter what we do, we have to make it look like an accident. Even if today is the last day and Geoffrey can’t retaliate, we still don’t want this traced back to you."
Phillip was surprised how devious Lily was. And smart, too. He wondered if she knew how crazy he was for her. God, he hoped not.
"Now," she continued, "tell me a little bit about how this point system works."
"Well," Phillip began, "you get two points for every good review you get from a customer, and you lose five points for every negative review. Then there are contests and such every week, where you can gain points for soliciting new subscribers or going out of your way to be helpful. Stuff like that. But those contests are already over. And people stopped giving out good reviews a month ago. I guess they just got used to us, or something. So, the only thing you can do now is lose points. People might not go out of their way to give good reviews, but they’d jump through flaming hoops blindfolded and naked if you give them the opportunity to give a bad review."
"So, I guess Geoffrey needs two bad reviews, then," Lily did the math in her head.
"Guess so."
"So who are the two pickiest people on Geoffrey’s route?"
"Hold on, I have to think," Phillip said. He sat down in someone’s front lawn and began to ponder it.
"Well, I’d love to tell you to take your time, Phillip, but the sun is going to be coming up soon, and we probably want to do whatever we’re going to do while it’s still dark."
"Got it!" Phillip said, standing up. "You know how Geoffrey goes on and on about any old thing, as long as it pertains to himself somehow? Well, I remember him telling me one time about how he had been told off by Mrs. Matheson for apparently moving her rocking chair out of the way. I remember how peeved he was about it. So, Mrs. Matheson is number one, and I think Mr. Dillinger is number two. I recall Geoffrey saying something about how particular he is about where his newspaper is placed."
"Well then," Lily said, "we have our two victims."
Luckily for Phillip and Lily, most people had their names on their mailboxes. Otherwise, it would have next to impossible to determine who lived where. They found the house marked "Dillinger" first and walked quickly and quietly up to the front door.
"What should we do?" Phillip whispered.
"Well, if all he is is picky about where his newspaper is, then …" Lily kicked the paper off the mat and into the litter box sitting on the first step.
Phillip suppressed a laugh as he took off jogging down Mr. Dillinger’s walkway. Lily quickly followed him.
"Okay, so now I think we can safely assume you’re only trailing by one point. So, on to Mrs. Matheson’s?" Lily asked.
"Sure," Phillip responded.
They found Mrs. Matheson’s house and walked up to her porch, which was so crowded which wicker furniture that you barely find a place to stand. The newspaper was sitting on the rocking chair next to the front door.
"Now what?" Phillip whispered.
Lily thought for a second, and then was hit with an idea. She picked up the rocking chair and moved it to the front lawn. She then returned to the porch and picked up the footstool, placing it in the lawn next to the rocking chair, exactly as it had been on the porch. Phillip soon caught on to what she was doing, and in no time, Mrs. Matheson’s entire collection of porch furniture had been exactly rearranged for her on her front yard, down to the newspaper’s placement on the rocking chair.
"Brilliant!" Phillip complimented Lily on the walk back. "Inconspicuous and anonymous it’s not, but Mrs. Matheson will definitely think Geoffrey did it to get back at her, and he doesn’t have any proof that he didn’t do it. This is great. And even if Geoffrey does figure out it was me, it won’t matter because the contest will be over, and I’ll have won!"
"What do you win?" Lily asked.
"It’s a big secret, but last year it was a brand-new bike and a day trip into London. Plus, you get your picture in the paper. It’s a big honor."
"Well, congratulations, Phillip."
"I suppose I do feel a little bad about cheating, but then again, Geoffrey deserves it. Plus, I didn’t do it just for me. I did it for everyone. I saved them all from having to hear Geoffrey brag about how great he is."
"Very true," Lily said.
She stopped walking. They had reached her house again.
"Well, Phillip," she said turning toward him. "I had a lot of fun this morning. Thanks for having me along."
"Anytime," Phillip responded. He wondered to himself if he should confess his feelings to Lily. He looked into her eyes, desperate for any sign that would prove how she felt about him. But he received nothing but a smile and a chance to watch Lily turn and walk up the path leading to her house.
She turned around and whispered a "goodbye, I’ll see you at Christmas," and climbed back up the tree and into the window.
Phillip stood there for a while after she had disappeared out of sight before letting out a sigh and walking home. This certainly had been a day he’d never forget. And the sun hadn’t even fully come up yet.
Once inside, Lily went back to her desk and started draft #2 of the letter to Ophelia. ‘At least I have something to write about now,’ she thought.
After retelling the story of her morning to Ophelia, Lily went downstairs and gave it to Rainbow.
"Okay, you’ve got to hurry," she told the owl. "I know I’m going to see her tomorrow, and I could have told her all this then, but there’s something special about getting a letter, don’t you agree?"
She was met with a look of indifference.
"Oh, just go," she told Rainbow. She opened the back door and watched the owl fly away.
After Rainbow was no longer in sight, Lily climbed the stairs back up to her bedroom and started packing her things. She was still the only person awake, and Lily had so much adrenaline pumping through her system that she couldn’t have gone back to sleep even if she had tried.
So she finished getting her school things ready and packed all of it in her father’s old steamer trunk. She neatly placed everything in the trunk except her schoolbooks. When she was done, she sat down at her desk again, listened to the soft hum coming from the fan, picked up her copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and began to read.
________________________________________________________________________
The next morning, Lily was awoken with a soft tap on her door, very much like the one she received the day she went to Diagon Alley.
Lily hadn’t had any problems falling asleep the night before, seeing as how she had gone the entire day without sleep. Lily stepped out of bed, feeling refreshed and ready to go.
‘Today’s your day,’ she said to herself.
Lily opened her bedroom door and walked into the hallway. Petunia was still in her bedroom, so Lily didn’t have to rush to beat her to the bathroom. Once inside, she took her time. She stood in the shower and let the hot water rain down upon her, inhaling the steam as it rose.
She thought about school and how much she’d miss her family. She thought about Petunia and how she wished things were different. Petunia and Lily had once been close, especially when they were younger. But lately, they seemed to be drifting apart. When it first started happening, Lily had been concerned and went to her mother. Her mother told her not to worry about it, that Petunia was going through adolescence. She told her everything would work out in the end.
And then Lily received the letter from Hogwarts, and the relationship had really taken a turn for the worse. Now, Petunia barely spoke to Lily and wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence most of the time. Lily asked her mother about this as well, and she was told that Petunia was jealous, that she resented being outshined by her younger sister. ‘Be patient,’ her mother had said. ‘Petunia will come around, especially after you leave and she realizes how much she misses you.’
‘I guess that’s all I can hope for,’ Lily thought to herself as she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair and shut off the water valve.
Lily went back into her room to finish getting ready. There was still no stir coming from Petunia’s room.
‘Odd,’ Lily thought. ‘She’s usually a very early riser.’ Lily soon realized that Petunia wasn’t coming out of her room for a reason – she wasn’t going to say goodbye.
Even as her father was loading her trunk into the car, Lily was turned around staring at the front door, waiting for Petunia to come out and wish her good luck. But it was all for naught. Petunia never made an appearance.
"Don’t worry about it, sweetie," her mother comforted her on the drive to King’s Cross Station. "She’ll come around. I promise."
As soon as they arrived at King’s Cross, Lily put all images and thoughts of Petunia out of her mind. She immediately began looking for Ophelia, as the Tannenbaums had promised they’d wait outside the entrance for them.
Lily spotted Ophelia almost instantly and bounded over to her, choosing not to hear her father’s request for help with the trunk. As Lily got closer, she saw that there was another girl their age standing next to Ophelia. The two were talking and laughing, and Lily felt a pang of jealousy sweep over her.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she thought to herself. But still, Lily couldn’t help but feel a little resentful of the new girl’s presence.
"Lily!" Ophelia exclaimed when Lily came into view. She gave Lily a big hug when she saw her. "Oh, I’ve missed you! I just got your owl last night, and I can’t believe you did that! Oh, I wish I had been there. I was just telling Aurora about it."
"Who?" Lily asked, although she knew with almost an absolute certainty that Aurora was the girl standing next to Ophelia.
"Oh!" Ophelia cried, a little disheveled. "I’m so sorry. Lily Evans, meet Aurora Vance."
Lily looked at Aurora. She was very pretty. Her long black hair had been pulled back in a pale blue headband that matched the dress she was wearing. Aurora had a very warm smile on her face, but behind that, Lily could tell she was very apprehensive. Almost instantly, Lily felt all feelings of jealousy evaporate from her.
"Hi," Lily said. "It’s nice to meet you." Lily gave a warm smile back and felt Aurora’s mood lighten.
"You, too," Aurora answered. "Ophelia was just telling me about you. I’m glad I get to meet you in person. Great story about the furniture, by the way."
"Thanks," Lily laughed. "So, how do you two know each other?"
"Oh, we just met here, about ten minutes ago," Ophelia answered.
"Yeah, my dad said he’d be right back with my trunk," Aurora said. "But I guess I should go try to find him. I’ll see you both soon."
"Alright," Ophelia shouted after her. "We’ll save you a seat on the train."
"Lily!" came her father’s voice from behind.
"I know, I know," Lily started as she turned to see her mother and father struggling with the trunk. "I’m sorry I didn’t help with the trunk."
Her father’s face softened. He knew how excited his daughter was. He was truly excited himself. He was just about to tell her he wasn’t angry when Mr. Tannenbaum and his wife came rushing over to them. Sebastian was behind them, wheeling two trunks.
"And how is the Evans family doing today?" he asked them all.
"I’m just great," Lily answered.
"Well, I should hope so!" came the response. "Oh, Lily, I’m so excited for you and Ophelia. This is a journey, and you two are going to have the most fun along the way!"
"Dad," Ophelia interrupted, "we should probably go in."
"Right you are, Ophelia dear!"
Mr. Tannenbaum led the way into King’s Cross. He swerved in and out of crowds of people very quickly, and Lily had to maintain a quick pace just to keep up. She was also trying to take in the atmosphere as she went. She noticed all sorts of people, Muggles just like her. They were clueless as to what was happening around them. Little did they know that there were witches and wizards all around them. Lily smiled and felt proud and important to know things that those around her did not.
Mr. Tannenbaum stopped suddenly in between platforms 9 and 10, causing Ophelia, who had been trailing him closely, to bump into him. The collision sent everything Ophelia had been carrying crashing to the ground, including the cage holding Medea, which opened once it hit the ground.
The owl took off with a vengeance, much to Ophelia’s dismay. She quickly stood up, shouted a quick "Stop!" and took off after the owl, all the while screaming at it to come back.
"Ophelia!" her mother shouted after her, "don’t worry! Owls are very loyal creatures. Medea will come back!"
Ophelia ignored her mother’s words and continued to run after the owl, swerving in and out of crowds of people, offering polite apologies as she pushed people out of her way. Medea found this all to be very amusing. As soon as Ophelia would almost catch up, Medea would turn and fly in the opposite direction, in which case Ophelia would quickly turn and charge after her owl. After a few minutes, the owl tired of the game and returned back to Ophelia, who was furious.
"I do not appreciate this," she scolded the owl, who, of course, did not understand a word Ophelia was saying.
Ophelia made her way back to platform 9, where she was surprised to only find her father and Lily.
"Where is everyone else?" she asked.
"Well," her father answered, "your mother took everyone inside already. We knew Medea would come back, and your mother didn’t want to fall behind schedule. So, shall we go in?"
While Ophelia had been chasing the owl, Mr. Tannenbaum had told Lily that all she had to do was walk very quickly into the barrier and not to slow down at all. At first, Lily thought Mr. Tannenbaum must be crazy, but after watching her parents, Sebastian and Mrs. Tannenbaum do it, Lily realized it was true. Still a little weird, but true.
She and Ophelia walked through the barrier together, and when they arrived on the other side, the first thing Lily saw was a large scarlet train. She let out a sigh of relief that they had made it. But then she was overcome with a bad case of nerves, and the chaotic atmosphere didn’t do much to calm the feeling. Everywhere Lily looked, people were running around, yelling instructions to each other. It seemed as if everyone already knew each other.
‘Deep breath, Lily,’ she thought to herself.
And then she saw him – the boy she had seen at The Leaky Cauldron – the handsomest boy in England. Lily reached out and grabbed Ophelia’s arm.
"Tell me you know who that is," she asked Ophelia.
Ophelia looked over to him. "Nope," she said. "Well, not yet anyway. C’mon." She grabbed Lily’s arm and started dragging her toward him.
"No, Ophelia," Lily began. "I was just kidding!"
But there was no stopping Ophelia. She marched right up to the boy and asked him what year he was in.
"Oh," he answered. "This is my first year."
"Same with us," Ophelia answered. "I’m Ophelia Tannenbaum, and this is Lily Evans."
"Hi," the boy said. "I’m Sirius Black."
Just then another boy joined them. He was very tall and had unruly black hair. As soon as he walked over, Lily felt a slight pang in her stomach. But before she could acknowledge its occurrence, it was gone, quickly as it had come. Lily ignored it.
"And this is my dear friend, Engelbert," Sirius introduced them. "Now, if you’ll excuse me." And Sirius took off.
"Engelbert?" Ophelia asked.
"You can just call me James Potter," he said. "Sirius is a bit of a ... um … well … that’s Sirius."
"I take it you two know each other," Lily observed.
"I’ve known him longer than I care to admit," James said.
"James!" came a call from behind. "I need you over here, please."
James turned. "That’s my dad," he explained as he turned back to them for a moment. "It was nice meeting you."
"You too," Lily said. James turned and walked toward his father.
"Okay," Ophelia said as she linked her arm with Lily’s and started walking her back over to their parents. "Mental note – start the Sirius Black fan club."
Lily was glad to learn that her trunk had already been placed on the train. Now all that was left was to say goodbye to her parents.
Her mother gave her the longest hug she ever had. Lily was beginning to think she was going to have to bring her mother with her when Rose Evans finally loosened her grip and took a step away, tears in her eyes. Her father’s hug was much shorter, but still very full of emotion.
"Now remember," he said as Lily stepped onto the train. "You can write us anytime."
"I know," Lily answered.
"And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask."
"I won’t, Dad."
"Take care of yourself," her mother called.
Lily just smiled, offered one final wave and disappeared out of sight and into the train.
Lily and Ophelia found Aurora sitting alone in a compartment near the back of the train. They sat down next to her, and the three girls immediately began talking. Lily found out that Aurora was half-Muggle. Her mother came from a wizarding family and her father had grown up the son of a prominent London banker.
"Needless to say," Aurora told them. "My father’s parents weren’t thrilled when he received the letter from Hogwarts. They forbade him from going, but my father ran off and did it anyway. He had his uncle open his trust fund for him, which he then deposited into Gringotts. My grandparents never did forgive him for that. They cut off all ties. So, obviously, I’ve never meet them."
Aurora was very kind and open, and Lily liked her immediately. She realized that Aurora had a lot of the qualities and mannerisms that she had.
The girls had the compartment to themselves for most of the morning, until the door slid open and Sebastian came bounding in, closing the door after him.
"There you are! " he said to Ophelia. "I’ve been looking for you. Dad wanted me to give you this. You left it at home." He held out his hand, which contained a small black satchel. Lily couldn’t tell what was inside of it.
But Ophelia obviously knew. She snatched it out of Sebastian’s hand quickly and gave him an intense look of animosity. She tightened her fist around the satchel and quickly shoved it in her pocket. It was very obvious she was hoping Lily and Aurora didn’t know what was in it. Lily found her new friend’s secrecy to be a little odd, but she let it go.
"Well, you’re very welcome," Sebastian sarcastically said. He stood to go when the door slid open again and a cart emerged.
"That will be the witch with the food cart," Sebastian explained.
He was right about the food cart, but as for the witch, he was way off. The cart entered the compartment, being pushed by Sirius Black.
"Anything off the cart, dears?" he asked in a very high, exaggerated Cockney accent. "Pretty girls get a 50% discount for the next five minutes." He looked at Sebastian and added, "So sorry, chum. Wish you were a pretty girl."
Lily and Ophelia began to giggle, but they quickly stopped when a plump witch entered the compartment and grabbed hold of the cart’s handle. Lily assumed this was her cart.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I turn my back for one second, and look what happens! You kids!"
Sirius quickly assessed the situation, turned and fled out of the compartment as quickly as he could.
Lily tried her best to suppress a laugh as she asked for everything Ophelia was getting. Lily, not knowing anything about magical treats, thought it best to copy her friend’s tastes at first. Aurora ordered plenty off the cart as well, so among the three of them, they had more than enough to tide them over.
After they had thoroughly stuffed themselves, Lily sat back and looked out the windows of the train. She had no idea where they were. Or where they were heading, for that matter.
"Do either of you know where this school is?" she asked.
"Nope," said Ophelia. "I think it’s a big secret."
Lily heard the compartment door slide open and turned her head quickly to see was coming in. Her heart dropped down into her toes when she saw Ariel Julian enter the compartment.
"Well, well," Ariel said. "And just what do we have here?"
Ariel walked over to where they were sitting. "Lily Evans. I had quite hoped you would have decided not to join us this year. So sorry to see I was mistaken."
"What’s your problem, Ariel?" Ophelia demanded.
"I don’t recall addressing you, Ophelia, dear," Ariel answered. "Or even giving you permission to speak, for that matter."
"Giving me what?" Ophelia asked, standing up to look Ariel in the eye.
It was then that Ariel noticed Rainbow’s cage sitting on the seat next to Lily. She brushed past Ophelia and moved closer to Lily.
"A snowy owl?" she exclaimed. "Oh, sweetie, didn’t anyone tell you those went out of fashion ages ago?"
Lily turned to the owl and began talking to it in a cooing, soothing voice. "Oh, don’t let the mean lady disturb you," she said. "Everything is going to be alright, Rainbow."
"What did you just call that thing?!" Ariel demanded.
Lily remained very calm and composed. "I think you heard me," she said, not taking her eyes off the owl.
"Oh, that’s it!" Ariel exclaimed. "I mean it, Lily Evans, that’s it. You watch yourself from now on, or else!"
And with that, Ariel turned and hurried from the compartment, the same way she had come in. Lily and Ophelia turned to each other and started laughing. Aurora, on the other hand, looked thoroughly confused.
In between giggles, Ophelia told Aurora the Rainbow story, adding at the very end, "I told you calling that owl Rainbow was a bad idea, Lily."
"Oh, I don’t care about Ariel Julian," Lily responded. "I can take care of myself. She should watch out for me!"
"Oh right, Lily," Ophelia laughed. "I mean, patio furniture is one thing, but when you’re dealing with Ariel Julian, you’re in a whole new league."
"Well, I don’t like her," Aurora added. "I don’t even know her, but I can tell you I definitely get some pretty sadistic vibes coming from that girl."
"Sadistic," Lily said. "That’s a good description. I think we should start calling her Sadie for short. That way we can talk about her, even if she’s in earshot. I mean, Rainbow’s not exactly discreet."
They all agreed.
Just then, the train started slowing down and finally came to a halt.
"I think we’re here," Ophelia announced.
The three girls quickly put on their school robes and made their way to the front of the train, following everyone who was getting out. Lily stepped out onto a small dark platform and immediately began looking around. She couldn’t see anything, and people were pushing her out of the way and yelling to each other. Lily felt very overwhelmed. She turned to say something to Ophelia and learned that her friend had vanished out of sight. Lily broke into a small panic. People were heading in all different directions, and it was so noisy, she didn’t know who to follow.
"Lily!" came Ophelia’s voice.
Lily whipped around and began combing the crowd for a sign of Ophelia. At last she found her, hurriedly waving at her to come over. Lily tried to cut through the crowd, muttering a few "excuse me’s" along the way. At last she found Ophelia, who was at the end of a line of people, walking down a narrow path.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked.
"I have no idea," Ophelia answered her. "He just said for first years to follow him."
"Who?" Lily asked.
"Him, up front," Ophelia said, pointing. "You don’t really pay attention that often do you, Lily?"
"No," Lily answered. "My mom is always yelling at me for that."
Lily stood on her toes, but she still couldn’t see. She slowed her pace a little and began jumping, and on every jump, she was able to make out the figure of what must be an enormous man.
"Who is that?" she asked Ophelia.
"I don’t know," Ophelia answered, turned around looking at Lily. Lily summarily cut her off when she grabbed her friend’s arm and pointed.
Ophelia turned to see what Lily was pointing at. And that’s when they saw Hogwarts.
"I had no idea it was this big!" Ophelia exclaimed.
Lily was speechless. She was truly stunned by the vast beauty of the castle. She didn’t notice as Ophelia grabbed her arm and led her into a boat. It wasn’t until they were halfway across the lake that Lily noticed they were on water.
"Oh, there’s Peter Pettigrew!" Ophelia exclaimed, as she pointed him out to Lily and Aurora. "I know him from school," she further explained to Aurora.
Lily noticed that Peter was riding in a boat with Sirius, James and another boy. She smiled to herself and found herself staring at Sirius. All of a sudden, Sirius turned toward her boat and met Lily’s eyes. Lily quickly turned away and blushed.
"Oh my God," she said, still thoroughly red, "Sirius just caught me staring at him. Could I please die of embarrassment right now?"
"Oh, I’m sure he didn’t notice," Aurora tried to comfort her. "Watch your head," she added as the boats made their way into a dark tunnel.
They reached a harbor, and everyone got out of the boats. The enormous man led them up a small flight of stairs leading to a large door. He raised his fist and banged on the door three times. The door swung open, and they were met by a tall witch.
"Hello," she greeted them. "My name is Professor McGonagall. If you would please follow me."
They obliged and let her lead them into a small, empty chamber.
"Now," she continued. "In a few moments, you will be sorted into one of the four houses – Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor or Slytherin. The house that you are put in will be something like your family while you are here. You will have classes with your house, and you will likely spend all of your free time with your housemates as well. Now, if you would please wait here until we are ready for you."
At that, she turned and left the chamber.
"Oh, I really hope we’re all in the same house," Ophelia said, turning to face Lily and Aurora.
Lily didn’t respond. She began to think how horrible it would be to not be put in the same house as Ophelia. Lily didn’t know what she would do. Ophelia was so nice and so accommodating. ‘What if I’m in the same house as Ariel?’ she thought to herself. ‘No, Ophelia said she’s definitely going to be a Slytherin, and Ophelia said there was no way I’d be put there.’ She couldn’t help but think there was still a chance, though.
"Form a line, and follow me," came a voice. Lily looked up and noticed that Professor McGonagall had reentered the room.
Lily fell in line, behind Aurora and in front of Ophelia. She followed the line through a pair of double doors and into a large hall. Lily was immediately stunned. There were candles everywhere, floating in midair. Lily looked up and saw that the ceiling looked like the night sky. She began to wonder if maybe the ceiling was open, but she quickly told herself that was impossible. Her eyes darted from table to table, and she let out a muffled shriek when she noticed there were ghosts flying around. Lily heard singing in the background, but she was too busy taking in the room to pay attention to the song.
"Lily!" came a hushed whisper from Ophelia. "Wasn’t that a clever song?"
"What?" Lily whispered back. She looked to the front of the room and saw an old, beat-up hat sitting on a stool.
"The song the hat just sung," Ophelia whispered back.
"The hat sang?!" Lily responded, still in a very quiet whisper.
Ophelia just gave her a strange look. ‘Pay attention,’ she mouthed, smiling.
"Adler, Henry," Professor McGonagall spoke. "Will you kindly come try on the hat?"
A short blond boy slowly walked up to the hat, picked it up, put it on his head and sat down.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted.
Lily smiled. ‘This isn’t so bad,’ she thought.
"Bean, Jolie," Professor McGonagall announced.
"RAVENCLAW," the hat shouted.
"Black, Sirius."
Lily felt her heart start to flutter as she watched the handsome boy walk up the hat, an attractive confidence in his stride. She watched him sit down and try on the hat, all the while biting her bottom lip in anticipation.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat announced.
"Okay, now we really need to pray we’re in Gryffindor," Ophelia whispered to Lily.
"Clement, Evania" became the next Ravenclaw, "Denner, Lucas" joined the Hufflepuff table, and "Dressler, Veronica" became the first Slytherin.
‘If all Slytherins look like her,’ Lily thought, ‘Ophelia was definitely right about them.’ Veronica wore a nasty scowl on her face, similar to the one Ariel always wore.
And then –
"Evans, Lily."
Lily stepped out of line and walked up to the hat. She bit her lip again and she picked up the hat, placed it on her head and sat down on the stool.
‘C’mon Gryffindor,’ she thought.
"Gryffindor, huh?" came a small voice in her ear. "Well, let me see. Very brave, very loyal, lots of courage. Yep, I would have put you there anyway."
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.
Lily smiled wider than she ever had as she walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Sirius. She looked over at Ophelia, who gave her a wink. Lily was too busy thinking about her happiness to notice that "Fuller, Milo" went to Slytherin, "Gill, Nehemiah" went to Ravenclaw, "Hale, Harmony" went to Hufflepuff and "Hanley, Roderick" went to Slytherin.
But when she heard, "Julian, Ariel," Lily snapped back to life. She watched Ariel walk up to the hat and try it on. The hat took a very long time, longer than it had with anyone before her. After a few moments, that hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!"
Lily was stunned. She had been so sure Ariel would go to Slytherin.
Next, "Keefe, Jonathan" became a Hufflepuff and "Lee, Natasha" became the next Slytherin. "Lupin, Remus" became a Gryffindor, and Lily noticed he was the fourth boy in the boat with Sirius. Remus walked over to the Gryffindor table, sat down on the other side of Sirius and began chatting with him.
"Marks, Trey" was next.
Lily noticed Trey was very attractive as well, as she watched the tall, tanned blond boy walk up to the hat. ‘I hope he’s a Gryffindor,’ Lily thought to herself. No such luck.
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted.
Lily watched as Trey walked over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down next to Ariel. Lily scowled a little.
"McNally, Garnet" joined the Slytherins and "Menendez, Gabriela" became the next Gryffindor.
Gabriela walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Lily.
"Hi," she said. Lily smiled back, and they both turned back to the sorting.
"Olson, Peyton" became a Slytherin, and "Pettigrew, Peter" and "Potter, James" both became Gryffindors.
Lily watched James walk over and playfully punch Sirius on the arm.
"Reese, Darby " and "Silvan, Dominic" both became Hufflepuffs, and "Snape, Severus" became the last Slytherin.
Finally, Lily heard "Tannenbaum, Ophelia." Lily felt very nervous as Ophelia walked up to the hat and tried it on. She crossed her fingers and held her breath. It seemed like an eternity, but finally the hat shouted
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Ophelia took off the hat, set it down on the stool and skipped over to the Gryffindor table. Lily stood up and hugged Ophelia. But they quickly turned back to the sorting when they heard "Vance, Aurora."
Aurora walked up to the hat and tried it on. The hat took a very long time, and Ophelia and Lily both held their breath the entire time. Finally,
"RAVENCLAW!"
Lily felt her heart drop. Aurora looked so sad as she walked over to the Ravenclaw table. She glanced back over at the Gryffindor table and made eye contact with Lily, her eyes slowly filling with tears. Lily felt heartbroken.
The last girl, "Wright, Brina" became a Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took the hat out of the room.
A very old wizard with a long white beard stood up. "Welcome to Hogwarts," he said. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster, and I have a few words for you – Capture the flag."
"What?" Ophelia asked.
Lily just shrugged and shook her head and started piling food onto her plate. She ate mashed potatoes and roast chicken, carrots and lamb chops. After she had thoroughly stuffed herself for the second time that day, she turned to Ophelia and asked, "Do you think we should go talk to Aurora?"
"That’s a good idea," Ophelia said.
They got up out of their seats and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. Unfortunately for them, Aurora happened to be sitting next to Ariel.
"What do you want?" Ariel demanded. "Did you get lost?"
"We’re not here to see you," Ophelia said.
"Fine," Ariel said as she turned around. "But Rory knows who her true friends are."
"Rory?" Lily asked Aurora.
"You guys should probably go," Aurora said, all the warmth and joy her voice usually carried, gone. She turned away from them and asked Ariel to pass the dinner rolls.
Lily looked at Ophelia, who looked very puzzled. The two of them slowly walked back to the Gryffindor table, thoroughly confused. When they sat back down, Sirius came over, made himself a seat between the two of them and put his arms around them.
"Are you switching sides already?" he asked jokingly.
"No," Lily smiled back. "We just went to say hi, but that turned out to be a mistake."
"House loyalties run rampant here, I’ve heard," he said as he stood back up. "So if you hear anyone disgracing the name Gryffindor, you just let me know." He pounded his chest twice, laughed and winked at them as he walked back to his seat. Lily’s mood lifted a little, but she was still very hurt by Aurora’s attitude.
After dinner, a Gryffindor prefect led them to the Gryffindor common room, gave them a brief tour, then led them straight to their dormitories.
"Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day," she told them, "so I’d try to get some sleep if you can. And my name’s Hannah if you have any questions."
After Hannah had left the room, Lily noticed their trunks had been placed next to the three beds in the room. Lily went and sat on the bed where her trunk was. Ophelia and Gabriela did the same.
"My name is Ophelia, by the way," Ophelia introduced herself to Gabriela.
"My name’s Gabriela Menendez, but everyone calls me Gabi," the other girl said.
Seeing as how none of them felt like going to bed yet, they decided to get acquainted. Gabi told them she was from Spain, which prompted several questions from Ophelia.
"Why didn’t you go to La Luz?"
"La what?" Lily asked.
"La Luz," Gabi explained. "It’s Spain’s version of Hogwarts. And I didn’t go because my parents live in England now. My father is Spain’s magical ambassador to England. Plus, I have four older brothers and they all go to La Luz. I just wanted to go someplace where I could be thought of as an individual and not as ‘another one of the Menendez children.’"
"Wow," Lily observed. "That’s really admirable. So you came here not knowing anyone?"
"Yes," Gabi said. "Although it didn’t bother me. I knew I’d meet people." She shrugged. Lily soon got the impression that Gabi was the most laid-back person she had ever met. If you were to tell her her house had just burned down, Gabi would probably just shrug nonchalantly and go back to whatever she had been doing, Lily thought.
After Lily and Ophelia had gotten to know Gabi, all three of the girls were exhausted. They climbed into bed, and within minutes, both Ophelia and Gabi had fallen asleep. But it took Lily much longer. Thoughts kept flying through her head. She’d think about Aurora, and then thoughts of Ariel would take over. She’d try to block those out by thinking of Sirius or Trey Marks, but images of James Potter kept coming into her mind. ‘Weird,’ Lily thought. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lily drifted off to sleep, anxious to start the next day.