The Enchanted Silver Cauldron

Little Petunia Evans was alone in her room, but she still felt the need to pretend everything was all right, just as if there was someone else in there watching her. She sat on her bed, trying to read a book. It was not a fairy tale. She had taken all the fairy tale books off her shelf and put them away into a drawer ten days ago. She knew she would never be able to look at them again without having that horrible feeling that she was betrayed.

The book she was holding in her lap now had nothing to do with magic. However, it didn't really matter - she wasn't actually reading it. Every time she heard the sound of a car engine, she would glance at the window to see if her father and sister had returned from London. Then she would turn to her book again, sitting very straight and pretending she was indifferent to everything else. It didn't matter to her that Lily had received a letter ten years ago, inviting her to attend a school for witchcraft and wizardry. It most certainly didn't matter that their parents were as excited about the news as Lily was. And Petunia didn't care, not a bit, about her father taking Lily to a magic street in London to do her shopping. She wasn't interested in such nonsense anyway.

She stared at her book with determination. She hadn't turned a single page since she'd opened it.

When she finally heard the voices of her father and sister, she ignored them for as long as she was able to. Then she put the book back on the shelf, walked up to the door of her room and slowly opened it.

She could hear her mother's voice from downstairs saying:

"Please, put it on, Lily dear. Let me see how it suits you."

"Put it on, Lily dear," Petunia repeated in a whisper, mocking the enthusiastic tone of her mother's voice. Then she decided to go downstairs. Of course, she wasn't interested in whatever it was that Lily was trying on. She was just going to take a glass of water from the kitchen, and that was all.

As she was slowly and reluctantly walking down the stairs, she heard her mother's voice again:

"Oh my goodness, doesn't she look wonderful!"

And then her father said:

"Put on the pointed hat too, Lily. There! Isn't this exactly what a little witch should look like?"

Petunia frowned, but she couldn't resist peeking through the living room door. Lily was wearing a long black robe that twirled around her as she turned so that her parents could take a better look. She had a black pointed hat on her head, and it fitted her auburn locks and her face so perfectly that there was no doubt these were the clothes she was born to wear.

Petunia started towards the kitchen to take her glass of water, but Lily saw her and called:

"Oh, Petunia! You have to see all these things we've bought!"

Petunia entered the living room unwillingly. Her sister took her by the hand and gently pulled her toward the table covered with all sorts of weird objects. There were many books with strange titles, rolls of parchment, a quill, a set of scales and several packages still waiting to be unwrapped. Petunia kept her face calm, but her eyes were wide open, moving from one strange object to another.

"These books are from a magical bookshop, oh, if Dad only had the money I would have bought every single book they had! But this is the best thing of all!" said Lily and lifted her right hand. She was holding something that looked like a polished wooden stick, and as she waved it through the air tiny sparkles flew out of the tip.

Startled, Petunia took a step backwards.

"Don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid of. It's my magic wand."

"Your magic wand," Petunia repeated in a quiet voice.

Their father said, his face beaming with happiness:

"Lily, show your mother and sister the spells you practised in the car. You know," he said looking at his wife and Petunia, "while we were driving home Lily must have read all the books we bought today."

"Oh, stop it, Dad. I couldn't read them all," Lily said and blushed.

"Well, you almost did, didn't you? And she practised some of the spells right away, and they worked! Go ahead, Lily, show us!"

"Yes, do show us, dear!" her mother said. Petunia said nothing - she just sat in a chair and watched her sister in silence.

Lily took one of the rolls of parchment from the table, unfolded it and, to her sister's surprise, tore it in two. Then she pointed her wand at the pieces and said:

"Reparo!"

Sparks flew out the tip of the wand again, and the parchment was suddenly in one piece again. Her mother and father clapped their hands as if Lily was a conjuror who had just performed a successful trick, and asked her to do some more magic. Lily smiled, then turned to Petunia waiting for her reaction.

Petunia forced her lips into a small smile and said in a dry voice:

"Yes, do show us more."

Lily performed the other spells she had learned that day, one after another, her parents showering her with compliments. Petunia kept silent. She was sitting very straight on her chair, her head held high and her hands folded in her lap, as if she was posing for a portrait.

Finally Lily got tired of performing magic and their parents decided it would be nice to have a cup of tea. Their mother suggested they should all go to the kitchen and continue chatting there while the kettle was on. Disregarding the fact that she had meant to go to the kitchen and have a drink anyway, Petunia said she would join them later. She had to have a short rest from listening to her parents praising Lily.

The moment she was left alone in the living room, she stood up and picked up the wand Lily had left on the table. She held it with both hands, carefully, as if she was scared it could hurt her. When a few seconds passed and nothing bad happened, she held the wand in her right hand and waved it just the way she had seen Lily do it. Nothing happened. She repeated the movement again and again, hoping that at least a very, very tiny spark would fly out of the tip. But in her hand the wand was just a lifeless piece of wood.

Bitterly disappointed, Petunia threw the wand onto the floor. Tears started flowing down her face.

"Petunia?"

Lily was standing in the doorway; she must have been watching her for some time. Now she stepped into the living room and picked up her wand, then turned to her sister with a concerned look on her face. She didn't seem to know what to say to her. It was as if there was suddenly a wall between them.

Petunia turned away from Lily, trying to hide her tears. There were a few moments of silence, then Lily took a small parcel from the table and handed it to Petunia.

"I asked Dad to buy this for you when we were in that magical street, Diagon Alley. It's something for your dollhouse."

"Thank you," Petunia said trying for her voice to sound as normal as possible. She took the parcel cautiously. Lily was watching her so eagerly, she didn't have any other choice but to unwrap it immediately. She removed the soft, silky wrapping paper. A small, shiny object was inside. Before she could see what it was, she realised with horror that it was moving, shrieked and let it fall onto the floor.

"It isn't dangerous," said Lily, picked up the strange object and held it for Petunia to see. "It's a little cauldron, like the bigger ones witches use, but it's meant for dolls. It's made of real silver. And the decorations move around, that's what frightened you. Look."

Petunia stared at the small silver cauldron. It was covered with engravings that were constantly moving around over the shiny surface. She took it into her hands once again, very carefully, to take a closer look. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She was able to see now that the tiny engravings were dragons, made perfectly to the smallest detail. Every single scale on their skin was shown, and curly trails of smoke were coming out of their nostrils, becoming thinner and thinner, and then blending into the smooth surface. The dragons were constantly chasing each other around the cauldron.

Petunia was watching them as if she was hypnotised. She heard Lily saying:

"It was made by goblins. They are famous for their crafts."

"Goblins?" Petunia repeated in a small voice. She felt that nothing could possibly surprise her anymore.

"Yes, and Dad and I even saw goblins today, at the bank, when we were changing money!" Lily was speaking in an excited voice again, more relaxed now that Petunia had stopped crying. "But you haven't even seen the best thing about this cauldron yet. It's enchanted to perform a tiny bit of magic! Look what happens when you touch the tip of a dragon's tail."

Lily took the cauldron out of Petunia's hand again and, watching the movement of the dragons, put her finger on one particular spot. A puff of purple smoke came out of the cauldron. She looked at her sister with expectation, and Petunia knew she just had to smile.

"Thanks, Lily. It's really pretty," she said.

When Petunia returned to her room she knelt on the carpet in front of the large dollhouse, her favourite possession. She cautiously placed the small magical cauldron on her dolls' kitchen cupboard, among the pink plastic pans and saucers.

Only eleven days ago Lily was sitting there on the floor with her and they were having a dinner party for dolls, as they often used to. Only eleven days ago their lives were normal.

The engraved dragons on the silver cauldron were moving, casting shadows and reflections on the pink and white toy kitchen. It was obvious that it didn't belong there. It was a beautiful thing, but it spoiled everything.

Petunia took the cauldron and wrapped it up again in a piece of paper. Then she opened the drawer where she had put all her fairy tale books and put the package into a far corner. She closed the drawer and for a moment sat with her back leaning against it, as if she was scared of the magic escaping and creeping around her room.

Then she returned to her dollhouse, rearranging the furniture and carefully removing some barely visible dust. She was at least able to keep the dollhouse beautiful and clean, free from all intrusions.