Year One: The Mauraders and the Forbidden Forest

Chapter 1: First Years and Letters

Voices rang out in the hall as footsteps were heard coming from the end of the room. Three men emerged, one with greater seniority than the other two. The older man was bedecked with a pointed hat and dressed in dark blue robes. A thoughtful look can be found in his face. Something of a very important matter had been in hand, and he was to decide whether to confirm it, or decline. With final deliberation, the man turned to his companions. "Gentlemen, I have decided to allow the young man into the school."

"Yes, but do bear in mind the perils of you doing so, Albus," replied one of the other two men with him, "You do run the risk of endangering every student in the grounds."

"I agree with that reason," the last man said, "And with that reason alone, Headmaster, the Ministry will not permit to such a being into Hogwarts. We've only come here to verify with you that you wouldn't let a werewolf in the premises."

The man named Albus smiled faintly, a slight glow in his light blue eyes. "Verify? I had thought to tell the Ministry that the precautions are to be of my responsibility. I have spoken to the child's mother, confirmed it with the Werewolf Protection Society, and prepared an area for young Mr. Lupin to hide out during his transformations. If you would follow me outside, kind sirs, I would gladly show you our protection against a werewolf."

They followed him outside the Hogwarts grounds, near a lush, dark green forest that loomed near the castle. Away from the forest was a lone tree, bigger than most, and more dangerous than a wild boar. In the wizarding world, a tree such as the one they set their eyes upon was named a Whomping Willow. The two gentlemen looked on, eyes wide and they muttered to themselves. "How did you come across a Whomping Willow? And what does it have to do with our current circumstance?"

"If you would observe, the Whomping Willow has been carefully planted under a passage towards an underground entrance," Albus pointed out, "It leads to a certain house in Hogsmeade. The Shrieking Shack has been locked up for a while now, and the presence of a werewolf there is surely going to be misinterpreted by the villagers. Most likely they will think it no more than a haunting. After all, gentlemen, we are taught to believe in strange things of occurrence. I will arrange for the child to be smuggled into the shack during the day of the full moon. I believe that young Mr. Lupin is to be trusted."

His companions glanced at each other, unsure of their next decision. Albus Dumbledore was a wise man, and he has been running Hogwarts for quite some time now. Maybe it was best for them to trust a werewolf into his custody. With a sigh, one of them nodded. "Okay, we will go to the Ministry and change our plans."

"Thank you, gentlemen," was the wizard's reply, "Now, if you will excuse me, I must be off. I am to arrange for a meeting with our new deputy headmistress. It is most imperative that I meet with her today, before we send letters out to the students. Good day, sirs."

"Good day to you, too, Headmaster."

***

"MUUUUM!!!!" a shrill scream split the air. "MUUUM!"

A woman in her thirties hurried to the living room, panting after bolting from her bedroom and running down the stairs. Her hair was disheveled, evidence that she had been asleep when she heard the call. The woman looked down at her daughter, and gave her a reassuring smile. "What's the matter, dear?"

The girl made a gesture that appeared as if she was going to wipe upcoming tears. For some reason, that routine always worked for her. "My dollie's gone! Lily must have took it! I want it back!"

"Oh, honey, how do you know your sister has your doll? Have you asked her?" the woman asked.

With a pretended sniff, the girl nodded, "I know she has it! She hid it from me!"

Her mother sighed and proceeded to head on upstairs in search of her other daughter. A door opened and a head full of red hair poked out in curiosity. The girl's green eyes stared steadily at her mother's. "Is something the matter? I heard Petunia screaming downstairs."

"Petunia seems to have lost her doll. Have you seen it? She claims that you've snatched it."

The girl tilted her head and nodded. "Well, Mum, snatched isn't nearly the word. I don't have it with me. But if you would like to know where it is, I glimpsed it on the roof."

Raised eyebrows met that incomprehensible remark. Laurel's older daughter was up to mischief again, and it was aggravating her. "Lily, what have I told you about this nonsense? Why did you throw it up at the roof again?"

"You don't understand, Mum," the girl hurriedly shook her head, a look of anxiety appearing in her eyes, "I didn't throw it up there. Petunia, she...oh, it's too hard to explain..."

"Well, you better explain that to your father, dear, I think he just arrived," Lily's mother replied as she heard the door open and a male voice called out her name.

Indeed, when mother and daughter bounded down the stairs to the living room, a middle-aged man was comforting the wailing Petunia. In his other hand was a familiar object that was said to have been on top of the roof. Green eyes looked through square spectacles. "Poor Petunia missed her toy. I wonder how it managed to transport itself to the top of the roof? Do you know, Lily?"

"Lily threw it up there! She's being mean to me!" Petunia cried out as she received her doll. The young girl hugged her precious object tightly, glaring at her older sister, who glared back.

"I told you before, I didn't throw the doll!" Lily argued back, enraged that she could be accused of such a thing. "I was in my room the whole time. The only awful thing I could have done was think of doing horrible things to you, but you're lucky I didn't!"

Husband and wife looked at each other. Lily's mother had those eyes that pleaded for her husband to stop the quarreling children. He bent down to Petunia. "Look, honey, why don't you run along? You've got your doll, haven't you? Lily promises not to take her away again, won't you, Lily?"

The red head nodded, looking down, a feeling of disappointment crept up. Why was she never believed? Laurel Evans sighed. If one daughter was happy, the other one wasn't. It was a never ending cycle of who to make unhappy one day and then the next. She was lucky that Lily had agreed to move to boarding school. It had been her idea, to meet girls like her and to have a nicer education. Money was no problem, since she herself traveled as a florist and a journalist, while her husband worked in his law firm. Their family was quite stable. Unless, of course, the two sisters were found in the same room. And even if they weren't, it was a danger to have one Evans girl to be found at least one room apart from each other. Trouble always seemed to brew with Lily and Petunia. Or was it only from Lily?

To tell the truth, somehow, Lily's parents thought that Lily had been the oddball in the family. She was now as small as her sister, with red hair and green eyes that her father had. And, for a 10-year-old, Lily held this great interest in mythological beings and such. Laurel wasn't sure whether to be glad that her daughter found interests, or concerned that she did nothing else but read. Even in class, Lily was a problem. Sure, the teachers loved her curiosity and avid learning skills, but every time the girl raised that slender hand of hers, it always resulted in one thing.

Groaning noises would come from the back, as well as a few other students who would snicker and mimic the poor girl. Lily's teachers would look around nervously and looked towards Lily.

"Miss Evans, if you please, your questions will be answered in a much later time. For now, I would have your utmost attention."

Lily, of course, felt that her questions were too important to be ignored. So the teachers had no choice but to sigh and listen carefully to the Evans girl. Lily's mother was always called on by the headmistress about her older daughter, with sayings that she should be bumped up one class higher than the rest. When she asked her daughter, the young girl merely shook her head and said that she was happy with people her age. It puzzled Laurel, since Lily barely had any close friends in her school.

The mother's thoughts were interrupted when her husband spoke. He was sorting out the mail, and he came across a strangely colored one. The lettering was in dark purple, and it contained no stamp. Phillip Evans frowned. "My, what could this be?"

He turned the letter over and saw that the letter was addressed to Lily, who had been looking curiously at the letter when it was first held up by her father. "For me? Where did that come from?"

"Odd...did you somehow apply for anything? The seal looks like it's from a school..."

"Lily, I thought we already established the fact that you're going to Violet Langford's School For Girls?"

"I did, Mum," was her answer, "I never applied for anything!"

Phillip handed the letter to Lily, and her parents watched her intently. She wondered who could be writing in a strange color of purple, and why they would be writing to her. Indeed, the contents of the letter were addressed to her. In the same purple lettering, it read:

Lily Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Below is a list of items you will be needing for your first year of schooling in Hogwarts. Students are allowed to bring one hamster, toad, owl, OR cat to the school. We will be looking forward to seeing you on September the first.

Cassandra Lobiesk,

Deputy Headmistress

On a separate note, in small purple scribbling, the deputy headmistress wrote:

Also to Lily Evans,

This might be a shock for you, Miss Evans, but the only proof we can possibly give you and your parents without making a deliberate fuss about it is the arrival of two owls. They will be carrying a number of things. One will be your ticket to the Hogwarts Express, which will be docking in King's Cross Station. The other objects will be some items that you might find strange to your Muggle perspectives, I suppose. Also a couple of other legal documents can be found, for I presume your father will be wanting more than small items as proof. Once again, I look forward to seeing you in school on September.

Cassandra Lobiesk

Lily read and re-read the two letters over and over again, until she could be sure of what its contents were. The girl finally handed it to her father, who perused it carefully. Lily and her mother watched as his face changed from calm curiosity to an anxious disbelief of whatever was being said. He shook his head. "It's probably a scam. A ticket will arrive by owl? And where in Europe do you suppose we can find a...magic wand? Inconceivable..."

Laurel was looking over her husband's shoulder, trying to read the letter, and she smiled, "Poor girl, it must be one of her colleagues, who asked their older siblings to write some kind of letter like this to Lily. It's not very convincing, though. My, I should be preparing dinner."

The woman went inside the kitchen and left Phillip pondering over the letter. Lily's face fell when she thought of the logic in her mother's words. What else could it be? There couldn't possibly be a Hogwarts, could there?

Suddenly, Lily's mother came hurriedly out of her kitchen. "Phillip! There are two owls perched on the kitchen window!"

Phillip and Lily ran to the kitchen, followed by a bewildered Laurel Evans, who couldn't believe her eyes. Sure enough, there were two barn owls on the window sill. Lily's father opened the window, and the owls dropped a few items in the sink. The envelope was addressed to Phillip and Laurel Evans, while a small bulky package was again addressed to Lily.

The red head opened the package to her eagerly, and she saw a few strange things. One was a small card with the face of Merlin at the front. Lily moved the card back and forth, noticing that the picture of Merlin was winking at her. The wizard was pulling at his long beard and waving with his other hand at his onlookers. Another thing that fell from the envelope was a small whistle that seemed to flutter with song once it was out of its enclosed space. Lily dropped the whistle in surprise, and still it continued to hum out a melody. Her father picked the item up and turned it over his fingers. "I don't think Lily's classmates would go through this much trouble renting two owls to deliver objects that are somewhat odd and probably expensive to buy in this country. Look here, Laurel, the documents are all legal."

"My goodness, then do you think..." Laurel turned to her green-eyed daughter with a bewildered look sketched on her face, "Do you suppose our daughter's a witch? But how is that possible?!"

"That's the same question I'm asking myself, dear," her husband replied, still leafing through the papers. He whistled. "Well, this Cassandra Lobiesk gave directions to enter this wizard marketplace called Diagon Alley. It's somewhere around London. The letter implores us to have a look around. What do you say, Lily?"

At once the red head beamed at her father. "Can we try, please? Anyway, you do have to buy supplies for boarding school. So...if this Diagon Alley doesn't work, we can always get my stuff for school right?"

Her mother chuckled. "Well, as long as your father is the one shopping with you for school supplies. Do you think I should go ahead and tell Petunia that her sister's going to be a student witch, or should we wait until it's a proven fact first?"

"Don't tell her until I see what is going on around here," was the father's say. "After all, why would you want to lead the poor girl on?"

Lily couldn't believe what was happening to her. Was there really a Diagon Alley in London, a place where magical people shopped for school supplies? Is she really going to be a witch-in-training? Only time will tell...

***

"Excited, Potter?" a blonde, blue eyed girl asked after leaping onto a boy her age, with rugged brown hair and brown eyes shining through his glasses. "Come on, we are going to be first years and all."

The boy fell over, dragging his friend down as well. He grabbed his glasses, placed them back on his face, and glared at his companion. "Honestly, Sarah, did you have to greet me like that? Why couldn't you say hello like everyone else does?"

His friend grinned, "Because it gets tiring trying to be like everyone else, doesn't it? Anyway, me dad says that I have a cousin our age that's going into Hogwarts, too. I've never seen her before, though. Have you?"

"How should I know? There are tons of wizards going into Hogwarts. And, you haven't mentioned her name either."

Sarah lightly punched him on the shoulder, adding another pain to his naturally bruised body. James winced but did not let his friend see. Instead of answering James' comment, Sarah spun around, disappearing into the corner, screaming, "I've gotta go, James! Me Dad's bringing me to Diagon Alley today to get me school supplies and the kind!"

Brown eyes glittered with amusement. "Okay, then! I'll see you in a week!"

"You bet!"

***

Green eyes gazed around with wonder at the sight that awaited her. Robed men and women with pointed hats bustled about, buying school supplies for a future witch or wizard. Certain creatures walked around the area as well; Lily could have sworn that she saw goblins carrying boxes into an ivory building. Diagon Alley was a wonder of wonders for Muggle-born Lily Evans. Even her father looked on in awe. "Well, the instructions said we should be heading towards Gringotts. So...Lily, where do you think this bank would be?"

"Do you see that white building over there?" a voice asked with a lovely French accent. "That would be Gringotts, monsieur."

Father and daughter turned around to see that a young girl and her mother were smiling at them. The mother held her hand out to Phillip Evans, blue eyes friendly. "I don't think I've seen you before around the wizarding world. Are you a Muggle parent, then?"

"Erm..." Phillip cleared his throat, taken aback. "I...don't believe I understand..."

"Oh, you must pardonnez-moi, monsieur," the woman chuckled, "A Muggle is the wizarding term for those who don't use magic. I'm to take it the pretty red head is your daughter?"

Phillip glowed at the compliment given by the woman and nodded. "Yes, she is. Thank you for informing us where Gringotts is, er...Miss...?"

"Belle," the woman said as Lily's father shook hands with her. She turned to her daughter. "Vite, Melanie."

The young girl beside her mother gave a small curtsey and ambled away, as the two raven-haired females walked into a store that seemed to say, "Ollivanders: Maker of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."

They reached the white building, and Lily was overjoyed to see goblins buzzing about talking to the customers. Lily and her father approached one of the unoccupied goblins. "Excuse me, goblin sir, but my father has this letter from the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts about exchanging currency. Can you assist us?"

Curious eyes watched the two red heads carefully and shrugged. "Do you have any English money, then?"

Lily's father took his purse and held out a few hundred pound notes. The goblin took it and bowed to them. "I'll be back in a while, sir, and miss. It'll take a few minutes to sort this out."

Phillip looked around nervously, unsure if he quite belonged in the environment around him. He saw wizard mothers and fathers dragging their children around. Some older teens were also walking about making withdrawals from their parents' accounts to buy their school supplies. To his astonished ears, Phillip even caught on certain conversations.

"Mum's being harsh this year, Ernie. Said I couldn't go buy myself a Swiftstick for school..."

"What?! But if our Quidditch team doesn't have the best equipment, then we'll never have a chance against Ravenclaw!"

"Yeah, I heard they've got two new awesome Chasers..."

"And they've both got Nimbus 1000 broomsticks!"

Obviously, all this talk only further confused Lily's father. He didn't know what Swiftsticks were, or what Quidditch was, but he couldn't listen and observe any longer, as the goblin came back, carrying with him a small bag that seemed to jiggle with gold. The goblin handed the bag to Lily, who looked inside to find small gold, silver, and bronze nuggets. "There you are, sir. I believe this is your first time, so I've added a small note explaining the wizard currency. Don't worry, you'll catch on quickly."

As they left the building, Lily's father whispered, "Do we really look that obvious that we aren't from around here?"

"Dad, relax," Lily giggled, "This is certainly not a courtroom. Come on, let's go get my wand first!"

They entered a cluttered up shop, filled with boxes in shelves and such. A little man came scuttling out of the back. "May I help you?"

"We're here to buy a wand," Phillip told the man.

The wizard (for what else could the man be?) looked at the young girl through his spectacles. "Yes, yes, Lily Evans, I presume?"

Green eyes glowed with curiosity. "How did you know?"

"I have a knack, youngling," the man said, "You can call me Mr. Ollivanders, by the way. Now, come, let me measure you. Mr. Evans, this will take a while, so I do advise you to go on ahead and buy her books and other ingredients for her potions."

Phillip nodded and patted his daughter's head before setting out. Lily looked around curiously and picked a box out. "Unicorn hair...oh! I want this wand!"

Mr. Ollivanders shooed her away from the shelves and made her stand in the center of the room. He also grabbed the wand box from her and threw it out. "No, that's not for you."

Blowing dust from another box, one from the upper shelves, he opened it and took the wand out. "Cypress, 9 1/3 inches. Very sturdy. Go on, give it a small flick."

Lily did as she was told, but nothing happened, to her disappointment. Before she could glance at Mr. Ollivanders, the wand was taken from her and she was given another one. "How about this one? Mermaid scale and ashwind, calm combination."

Again, nothing happened. Instead of being frustrated, however, Mr. Ollivanders seemed cheerful. "My, my, we're getting picky today, aren't we? Wait right here, I'll find you the perfect wand from the back."

After a few moments, Mr. Ollivanders came out again, full of dust, and carrying a wand out triumphantly from his stash. He handed it to Lily. "This ought to work. Willow, 10 1/4 inches, swishy. I have a feeling you might like doing Charms."

"If you say so," Lily said nervously this time, hoping that something would happen. She closed her eyes, and felt the wand shake. When she opened her eyes, the wand was giving out sparks. Lily was overjoyed.

"Ah, I knew it!" Mr. Ollivanders piped up happily. "Very fitting for you, Miss Evans. That'll be 10 Galleons. We'll wait for your father to come back."

When Lily's father came back, his hands were full of packages for Lily. He called out for his daughter to help him, and she sauntered happily to him, taking a few boxes from him. "Dad, I've got a wand! It's 10 Galleons!"

Both Evanses moved on to another area of Diagon Alley. By the time they got home with all the strange packages and the remainder of the wizard money, there was no doubt in anybody's mind where Lily would be going to school that year. Laurel Evans broke the news to her younger daughter, Petunia, who didn't take it as well as they hoped she would. Petunia had stormed off, angered and disgusted at the fact that her sister would be strange and uncanny.

Lily's mother shook her head. "Well, I suppose she'll adapt to the idea in time. Now, I've got to call your boarding school, to tell them that you won't be going there at all. I can't believe it! We have a witch in the family! Isn't it wonderful?"