The Dursley Girl

C.1 The Letter

"Mum, Dad! I'm home!" I call out as I enter the house.

I head to the kitchen and see my dad reading the paper and my mom typing away at her laptop.

"How was school love?" My mum asks, pulling me into a hug.

"I got my spelling test back!" I say proudly, as I pull it out of my backpack.

She looks at the paper and smiles.
"That's my smart little girl!"

I frown at her.
"Mum, I told you I am not little anymore. I turn eleven in three days."

"That's right, you're a big girl now," my dad smiles, putting down his paper.

"Dudley, look at how well she did," my mum hands him my test.

"Oh, Lannah, this is excellent! I think this deserves ice cream," he declares.

"Really?" I say excitedly looking at my mum.

She smiles and goes back to typing.
"You two go ahead. I have to stay and finish something for work."

"Alright love, we'll see you in a bit," Dad gets up and tells me to grab my coat.

As we leave the house to walk to the ice cream parlour, we stop at the mailbox. Dad shuffles through the letters.

"Did we get the invitation to Lucille's wedding?" I ask excitedly.

"I don't think she sent invitations yet-" he stops suddenly.

I look up at him and see that he's holding a brownish letter with a red stamp.
He's holding it so tightly that his knuckles turn white.

"Daddy?" I ask quietly.

He tears his eyes away from the letter and looks back down at me.
He stays quiet a few more moments before saying, "Get back in the house." He pushes me forward as we walk back to the front door.

"Back already?" My mum asks as we enter the house.

Dad walks right past her to the phone.

Mum looks at him in confusion.
"Dudley? Is everything okay?" She asks, putting an arm on his shoulder.

He simply hands her the letter as he begins punching numbers in the phone and lifts it to his ear. I glance at my mum who is now holding the letter. She gets the same expression dad did when he first saw it.

"Mum? It's me," Dad says into the phone.

Why is he calling Grandma Petunia?

"Mum, she got the- she got- she got the letter," he stutters.

I've never seen him so... nervous? Frightened? I can't tell. I continue listening to him on the phone as I take another glance at the brown letter in my mother's hand. She sees me look at it and quickly sets it aside and listens into dad's conversation.

"Are you mad? Do you remember what we went through when we tried to keep the letters from-" he stops himself and looks back at me. "I have to give it to her," he says in almost a whisper.

"Mum, I'm scared," I say.

My mum looks down at me with sorry eyes and puts her arm around my shoulder, but says nothing.

Dad finally hangs up the phone. He takes a deep breath before asking, "Where did you put it?"

"Why- we can't... we're not giving it to her are we?" My mum asks breathlessly.

"We have to. Where is it?" He asks again, raising his voice slightly.

Mum points to where she put it.
Dad walks over and picks it up.

"Everyone, let's sit down for a moment," he says.

I sit next to my mum as dad places the letter on the table between us. As I get a closer look, I notice it's addressed to me.

"Alannah, I'm about to tell you something very, very important. It may sound...exciting... but this can not be shared with anyone."

"Ok," I say intrigued.

"Alright. Alannah, this letter is going to tell you that you have been accepted into a school called Hogwarts."

"When did I apply?"

"You don't apply to this sort of school dear," my mum says.

"Oh," I say, still confused.

"This is a school for, well, wizards. Or witches I suppose? I'm not sure of the difference," my dad mumbles the last part.

I almost begin laughing.
"Daddy, I just told you I'm a big girl now. You don't need to tell me stories."

"I'm afraid he's not telling you a story," my mum leans over and pulls the letter towards me.

I glance at her and then pick up the letter, a big letter in my small hands.
"Can I open it?" I ask quietly.

"It's addressed to you isn't it?" My dad asks.
He's right. The front of the letter says, 'To Mrs. Allanah Dursley of 24 Spring Street'.

I turn it over and see an emblem of some sort over the word "Hogwarts". The emblem appears to have a snake, a lion, a bird of some sort and a... hedgehog?

Finally, I tear open the letter and begin reading it. With every passing sentence I feel my eyes getting wider with excitement. It's true! It's a school of magic! I'm going to learn spells!

I read the second sheet of paper with all sorts of insane materials. Where will I ever find these things? I look up at my parents.

"Is this true? I'm magical? Magical! I get to have a wand," I continue looking over the supply list.

"No you do not," my mother snaps.

I look up in surprise.
"What?"

"Love, we can't keep her from this-" my dad begins but she cuts him off.

"NO. She will not take part in any of this! She is normal. This is a mistake. It's one big mistake! I am not sending away my daughter! Are you mad?" She stands up.

My dad sighs, "Love, please sit back down. I know it's hard- but trust me one way or another-"

Mum cuts him off again.
"One way or another she is staying here. You said we had to give her the letter, and so we did. We are not obligated to send her off. And we won't. And that is final," she snatches the letter from me and heads upstairs.

I stare at my dad in confusion.
"Now what?" I ask.

He shakes his head slightly and takes a deep breath.
"Darling, your mother... she knew this might happen one day. I knew this was a possibility-"

"You knew?" I ask in shock.

"Well- no. I just knew there was a chance. See, your Grandmother's sister was a... witch. I suppose every once in a while it runs in the blood," he explains.

"Really? Do you know any other wizards?" I need all the information he can give me, without that letter he's my only source of information.

"I... I didn't know Lily."

"Wasn't she your aunt if she was Grandma's sister?"

"Yes. She died very young. I was just a baby when she died," he says softly.

"Oh," I regret asking. "Did you know any others?" I ask carefully.

Dad looks distant for a moment, as though he's remembering something he shouldn't. He stays quiet for a long moment before answering slowly, but surely.
"No. No I did not."