Illusion

"Siri!" screamed an 11-year-old girl. "Guess what!"

"What, Lily angel?" asked the 13-year-old boy.

"I got in! I got in to Hogwarts!" shouted the red-headed girl happily.

"Well, that's no surprise!" remarked the black-haired boy. "You knew you were magical!"

"Yes! Wait until Mum and Dad hear. They will be so proud of me!" said Lily.

"Well, you go owl them and tell your uncle about your letter. I'm sure you can come to Diagon Alley with James and me. You know about James, James Potter, I've told you about him," said 'Siri', more commonly known as Sirius.

"Okay!" shouted Lily happily, running off to do exactly that. Sirius strode off as well, to find his parents and ask if Lily could come to get her school supplies with them.

***

A week later, Lily stared in wide-eyed wonder at the world that appeared before her eyes. Though she lived with her Uncle Joren in the summer, and he was a wizard, along with his son Snape, she was still a muggleborn girl who had never seen this many magical beings and things in one place. Wow, I never knew that it was this huge! thought Lily.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a cry of, "Sirius! Sirius! Over here!"

Looking to see if she could find the owner of the voice calling her friend's name, she spotted a 13-year-old boy with a jungle of messy black hair, waving his arms up and down.

"James! What took you so long? And be careful, your glasses are falling off!" shouted Sirius back to the boy, the infamous James Potter whom Lily had heard so much about.

"And this is Lily, Lily Evans. She's my neighbour, you know, the one I told you about." I hope Siri didn't tell him about- Lily's thoughts were cut short as James Potter greeted her.

"Hello, Lily. So you're the girl that loves playing pranks in people. Sirius talks about you, though he hardly ever mentions your name. Mostly you're just, 'the girl next-door,' 'the-girl-I-was-telling-you-about,' or something similar," said James warmly. He held out a hand for her to shake. "Pleased to meet you."

"Hello, James. Siri talks about you quite a lot as well. Judging from the fact that you sound quite like me and Siri, I would expect that I would rather not shake your hand until you take off that hand-shocker," Lily replied. She could tell that she would like James, though she would see him at Hogwarts, with him being a third-year and she a first.

"Well, you're right Sirius. A girl after our own hearts," said James.

"Mind you don't corrupt little Lily, now," admonished Mrs. Black. That was one of the things that Lily hated about herself. She was very short. Many mistook her for seven or eight years of age when she was really eleven. It made for many people, especially Mrs. Black, telling others to watch out for her. Lily might have been small, but she could watch after herself quite well, thank you very much.

"Aw, Mum. Shouldn't you be worried about sweet little Lily corrupting us?" asked Sirius. "She comes up with most of our mischief making ideas, anyways."

"Yes, well, everyone needs school supplies, and the day's not getting longer. Let's get a move on, folks!" said Mr. Black. "How about we head first to the apothecary, then go from there? We can do Lily's wand last."

Everyone agreed, and in short order they were all marching down Diagon Alley looking for school supplies. Lily found everything quite fascinating, and stared so hard she ran into Sirius, who was walking in front of her, twice. If Lily had thought the rest mesmerizing, then the wand shop was indescribable. Boxes and boxes sat in rows on the floors, in rows on the shelves, and just about anywhere there was space.

"Incredible, isn't it, Lil?" asked Sirius.

"Hello! If it isn't young Mr. Potter and Mr. Black. And Mr. And Mrs. Potter and Black! How nice to see you. But where are the Lupin's?" greeted an old man. Lupin? As in Remi? thought Lily. No, It couldn't be. He's not magical, that I know of. Must be a coincidence. Lily started when she realized that the old man was talking to her.

"And you're a first-year? Muggleborn? We don't get many of those."

"Yes, sir. I'm Lily Evans," Lily said quietly.

"Which is your wand arm?" asked Mr. Olivander.

"Er- well, I'm right-handed," said Lily.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Lily from shoulder to finger, knee to armpit and round her head. As he measured, he said, "Every Olivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Ms. Evans. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Olivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you'll never get such good results with another wizard's wand." Lily suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between her nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Olivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do," he said and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Ms. Evans. Try this one, redwood and dragon heartstring."

Lily, having already been briefed on what to do by Sirius and James, waved the wand. Nothing happened. She tried wand after wand, until it seemed like she had gone through the whole store.

"I wonder," said Mr. Olivander. "Try this one. Willow, ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, containing two hairs from a unicorn. Nice wand for charm work."

Lily took the wand. She felt sudden warmth in her fingers. She raised the wand and flicked it, shooting an array of red and gold animals through the dusty shop. Everyone clapped. Finally! Lily thought.

"Bravo! Well done indeed. Here, let me wrap it up for you," cried Mr. Olivander.

***

Lily woke the morning of the first like any other day, yet it was in fact a very special day. She was back at home, so she could see her parents before she left for school. They were all so proud of her being a witch and getting into Hogwarts. All but her sister, Petunia, but Pet had never been on good terms with Lily in the first place. It really isn't that great a loss, reflected Lily. I never liked her anyways.

Lily dressed and crept downstairs, so that she wouldn't wake her sister who wasn't coming to the station to see Lily off. She decided to watch the TV until breakfast, as she had been packed for a week already. She checked the Ceefax, but there really wasn't anything good on.

"Lily! What would you like for breakfast, honey?" asked her mother, coming down the stairs.

"Er, can we have flapjacks?" asked Lily hopefully. Flapjacks were her absolute favourite breakfast.

"Of course. Let me get them started," replied her mother with a proud smile. By the time breakfast was done, Lily's father was downstairs too. The breakfast table was filled with happy chatter about Hogwarts, and quite a few tears already on Mrs. Evans's part, to which Lily replied, "Mum! I'm not gone yet!"

They got to the station on time. It was filled with the usual hustle and bustle of the start of term, for many boarding schools started. "Lily? It says on your ticket Platform nine and three-quarters. I don't see it," asked Mr. Evans, worriedly.

"Don't worry, Dad. I just walk through the barrier between nine and ten," reassured Lily, who had made sure to get that information from Sirius upon seeing her ticket. "It's getting late. I'd better go."

"Oh, Lily!" cried her mother, bursting in to tears. "Write every day, and be good, and remember to get all your work done, and please write! And don't forget where you put your new underwear!"

"Mum! I'll write to you, and you've only told me the rest a million times! Bye!" Lily ran through the barrier separating the two worlds.

"Lily! Over here!" cried a voice she knew all too well.

"I'm coming, Sirius!" she called back. Lily hurried over to him.

"The others are saving us a compartment. Come on!" he said, running onto the train. Lily followed him. Sirius stopped at the very last compartment, and said grandly, "Malfoy sleeps with a pink bunny rabbit."

The compartment door slid open, and Lily realized it was some sort of password. "Lily, this is James, whom you've already met, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin."

"Remus! You never told me you came to Hogwarts!" Lily exclaimed, throwing herself at him in a big bear hug. She hadn't seen him since Christmas. He was at James's house when she was home for the tail end of summer.

"I could say the same for you, Lilycake. You didn't tell me either," Remus replied warmly.

"I just found out, and besides, you've known for a lot longer than I have!"

"She's got you there, buddy," said James.

"You know each other? Why didn't you say something?" asked Sirius, astonished.

"I didn't know that you knew Remus Lupin," said Lily.

"And I thought that Lily was another Lily," said Remus.

"Well, then. Let's plan our first prank of the year!" said Sirius.

***

When the train arrived at Hogwarts, Lily was scared to death at the fact that she had to leave Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter to go across the lake alone. It wasn't that bad, though, because she met a few nice girls that were in her year. When they were finally across the lake, a stern looking lady opened the door.

"First-years follow me." She led the way to a small, empty chamber of the hall. "Welcome to Hogwarts," said the professor. "I am Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your houses will be something like your family. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I'll return when we are ready for you," she finished with a stern look. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber, and it seemed to Lily as if she had just walked out and back in again. "Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned.

"Now form a line and follow me." Lily hardly noticed the Great Hall at all, she was to busy looking around for James, Siri, and Remi. She did notice Professor McGonagall place a four-legged stool down and a pointed, dirty wizard's hat on top. The hat twitched, and began to sing:

Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see.

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts sorting hat,

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The sorting hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart.

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry,

Set Gryffindors apart.

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal.

Those Hufflepuffs are true,

And unafraid of toil.

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind.

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind.

Or perhaps in Slytherin,

You'll make your true friends.

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends,

So put me on!

Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a thinking cap!

Then Professor McGonagall began to call out names alphabetically. Unluckily for Lily, there were only 5 people before her. Abbot, Hans and Bones, Benjamin, were sorted into Hufflepuff. Calstrid, Genna, was a Ravenclaw. Cwertin, Martin, and Dratghin, Nora, both became Slytherin.

Then it was Lily's turn.

"Hmmm, good mind, very good mind. One of the best I've seen in years. You're a very loyal person, too. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, so far. You're muggleborn? Don't get many of those. Well, you show outstanding courage, so I think it better be GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted the last out to the whole school.

Lily could see the "Marauders" grinning happily. Sirius stood up and shouted, "Welcome to Gryffindor, the best house, Lily! Way to go!" Lily smiled and took a bow for Sirius. She ran over to the table, and sat between Sirius and Remus, where they made space for her. The sorting seemed to be over quickly, because Lily was helping set up a prank on the Slytherins.

"Okay, wait for it, NOW!" Sirius said, grinning. Lily stood up and said, "Wow! Hogwarts seems so great, except for that table over there." She pointed to the Slytherins. "They're really scaring me! I mean, look at them! Dancing on the table as cross dressers! And now they appear to be doing the limbo, using a person!" The whole school cracked up, except the Slytherins, who seemed to be completely furious at being made to look like idiots.

"As much as we enjoy pre-dinner entertainment, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, and it appears, Ms. Evans, I will have to take 5 points from Gryffindor, and you each have a detention to be served tomorrow night," said the headmaster. "Let the feast begin."

The food appeared before Lily's eyes. All kinds of food. She grabbed a platter and began filling her plate. By the time dinner was over, she felt as if she couldn't move one centimetre. But she had to. Groaning, she followed the rest of her year up too the dorms, not even noticing her surroundings. She was too tired. When they finally arrived at a painting of a fat lady in a pink dress, the prefect gave the password (Fried banana) and Lily went straight to bed, falling asleep the instant her head touched the pillow.