Something About Harry: The Lilia Watt Files

"Something About Harry" or "The Story of a Girl Not So Famous or Special as Harry Potter"

Chapter One

I wonder now how I might've reacted to the news that greeted me if I'd known what was in store. As it was, I was shocked (though that's quite an understatement), and a bit sceptical to say the least.

I was never much of a dreamer. I thought of myself as a realist, and hardly believed in anything I couldn't see with my own eyes. But I digress.

It was hard enough moving to England after eleven years in America. I didn't have many friends. You can imagine my complete surprise at the letter I received the summer after my eleventh birthday. Not even in the mailbox! I felt a thick envelope drop down with a thud, and I could have sworn I saw a large owl soar out through my window. I sat massaging my head as I opened the letter and read:

Dear Miss Watt,

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

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

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I reread the letter, my jaw going slack. "Mother!!"

My mom rushed into the room. "What's wrong, Lilia? Are you okay?"

"Mom, take a look at this letter," I said, handing the yellowing parchment nervously to her.

She read over the words, her brown eyes growing rounder every second.

"D'you think it's a fake? Maybe it's a joke," I suggested.

She shook her head, mouthing soundlessly. Finally, she gathered herself enough to speak.

"My sister got one of these when she was your age," she gasped.

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. "Aunt Amelia?"

She nodded.

"How come you never told me this before?" I asked, confused.

"I.........didn't think you'd believe me," she shrugged, strangely avoiding my gaze.

I blinked my bright green eyes and brushed my raven hair from my face as I read the letter a third time. I picked up the envelope that I had thrown on the floor hastily. The front read:

Miss L. Watt

The Upstairs Bedroom on the Left

7 Thompson St.

London

I flipped over the envelope to see an odd crest on the back. A badger, a snake, a lion, and a raven surrounded a large letter H. How curious.

My mother watched me with great interest.

"We'll have to go to Diagon Alley soon," she said.

Three years later, there I stood, ready to start my fourth year at Hogwarts. I bid my mom goodbye and strode through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten.

The Hogwarts Express roared softly in the background, and I stood on tiptoe and surveyed the crowd, looking for my so-called best friend. My eyes spotted a group of flaming redheaded people, and I began to walk in their direction when suddenly I was hailed by Ginny Weasley, who had come looking for me.

"Lilia!" she exclaimed, hugging me. "Come on, we're over here," she told me, grabbing hold of my hand and leading me that way. The same every year.

"Now boys, this is your last year, I don't want you doing anything reckless," Mrs. Weasley was saying.

"Aw, Mum, when have we done anything reckless?" asked Ginny's older brother George, with an air of great innocence.

Ginny snorted. Her twin brothers, Fred and George, were notorious jokers, and this would be their seventh and last year at Hogwarts.

"Oh, hello, Lilia dear," said Mrs. Weasley vaguely, before she continued lecturing them.

I tuned my ears to the other conversation in our vicinity. Ginny's brother Ron, and his friends Hermione and the famous (*derisive snort*) Harry Potter, were talking in hushed tones.

"Think I'll survive my fifth year?" Harry asked them bitterly.

"Oh, Harry, please don't say things like that," pleaded Hermione anxiously. She seemed a bit more uptight than usual.

"I wonder how Sirius is," said Ron, lowering his voice even more, though not low enough for my ear to miss it.

"He's very busy, or so he tells me. He can't tell me exactly what he's doing, in case the letter's intercepted and all, but..." Harry stopped abruptly, apparently noticing me staring at them and eavesdropping. I turned away and rolled my eyes, but my face went pink.

"Lilia, it's leaving," Ginny said grabbing my hand yet again and dragging me off.

"'Bye Mrs. Weasley!" I yelled.

"'Bye kids!" she shouted back, waving, as we got on the train and it pulled out of the station.

Another year, I thought.