Delilah Potter was an unusual girl for many reasons. First, she hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. She also really wanted to do her homework, but was forced to do it in the dark of night. Oh, and she happened to be a witch.
It was nearly midnight, and she was doing her homework with her twin brother, Harry.
Delilah was sitting up, using a flashlight to see her copy of A History of Magic leaning against her pillow. She moved the tip of her quill onto a piece of parchment, and continued to write her essay about witch-hunting from the medieval time period.
She found a nice paragraph about Wendelin the Weird and how Muggles were afraid of magic but burning had no effect on wizards because of the Flame-Freezing Charm.
Delilah put the quill between her teeth and reached for her ink bottle that was on her nightstand. Slowly and carefully, she unscrewed it and dipped her quill in it.
She began to write carefully, pausing every now and again to make sure the Dursleys were still asleep. If any of them woke up to the sound of her or Harry's quill, they'd both be in for it, probably locked in their room for the rest of the summer.
The Dursley family of number four, Privet Drive, was the reason Delilah hated the summer holidays. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and their son, Dudley, were Delilah and Harry's only living relatives other than each other. They were Muggles, and had a very medieval attitude toward magic. Delilah's magic, and anything to do with it, was never mentioned in the Dursleys' household.
For years Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon hoped that if they kept Delilah and Harry downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of them. To their furry, they had been unsuccessful. These days they lived in terror of anyone finding out that Delilah and Harry had spent most of the last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The most they could do, however, was to lock away their spellbooks, wand, cauldron, and broomstick at the start of summer break, and forbid them to talk to the neighbors.
That separation from their spellbooks had been a real problem because all of their teachers at Hogwarts had given them a lot of holiday work. Some of the teachers would give anyone who didn't do it detention for weeks.
Therefore Delilah and Harry seized their chance in the first week of the holidays. While Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were in the front garden admiring Uncle Vernon's new car, Delilah had crept downstairs with Harry, picked the lock, grabbed their stuff, and hid them in their bedroom. As long as they didn't leave spots of ink on the sheets, the Dursleys would never know that they were studying magic by night.
The Dursleys already were in a bad mood with them. Well, mostly Harry.
Ron Weasley had called, but instead of talking normally, he yelled.
Uncle Vernon was the one who unluckily answered. Delilah and Harry were in the room at the time.
"HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I — WANT — TO — TALK — TO — HARRY — POTTER!" Ron yelled so loudly that Uncle Vernon jumped back and held the receiver a foot away from his ear, staring at it with an expression of mingled fury and alarm.
"WHO IS THIS?" he roared in the direction of the mouthpiece. "WHO ARE YOU?"
"RON — WEASLEY!" Ron bellowed back, as though he and Uncle Vernon were speaking from opposite ends of a quidditch field. "I'M — A — FRIEND — OF — HARRY'S — FROM — SCHOOL —" The idiot. He very well knew what the Dursleys thought of Hogwarts, yet he still had brought it up.
Uncle Vernon's small eyes swiveled around to Harry, passing right over Delilah.
"THERE IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE!" he roared, now holding the receiver at arm's length, as though frightened it might explode. " I DON'T KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN! DON'T YOU COME NEAR MY FAMILY!"
And he threw the receiver back onto the telephone as if dropping a poisonous spider.
The fight that followed wasn't pretty, but Delilah was used to it. She stood by Harry with her hand on his arm as Uncle Vernon yelled at him.
"HOW DARE YOU GIVE THIS NUMBER TO PEOPLE LIKE — PEOPLE LIKE YOU!" Uncle Vernon had roared, spraying them with spit.
Yes. How dare Harry give his number to his friends.
Luckily Ron was smart enough to realize that he had gotten them into trouble, because he hadn't called again. Hermione didn't call either, which was a bummer. Hermione was a Muggle-born and knew how to use a telephone and would have enough common sense not to mention Hogwarts.
So Harry hadn't gotten any word from his friends. Delilah, on the other hand, had gotten letters from Draco, Daphne, and even Lyra, but mostly Draco. She had even sent him a birthday gift the month before.
Delilah finished the essay and looked at Harry, who was asleep with his parchment in his lap.
Delilah screwed on his ink bottle cap, and put the ink, quill, and parchment under a loose floorboard with all of Harry's school stuff.
She turned to look at the clock. It was two o'clock in the morning. Delilah had been thirteen years old, without realizing it, for two whole hours.
Yet another unusual thing about Delilah was how little she looked forward to her birthdays. She had never gotten a birthday card, unless you included the ones Harry and Delilah had exchanged in first grade.
Delilah walked to the window and stared out. The bars from last year were long gone, and she pushed it open, enjoying the cold air rushing past her face.
In the distance a lumpy shape that kept moving up and down erratically was flying in her direction. Delilah gave a start when she realized what it was. Owls. Delilah hurriedly moved out of the way as they all flew in.
"Harry, wake up. We've got a flock of owls on our desk."
Harry groggily woke up, confused.
"Wut?" he mumbled before sitting straight up, surprised. "What are all those owls doing here?"
"Well, it is our birthday," Delilah mused.
"But we never get birthday presents!"
"True, but that was before we had any friends."
Harry shrugged and took all the presents off the owls. Delilah separated them into two piles.
Harry started throwing off the wrappings while Delilah got their Hogwarts letters from an owl. The letters seemed thicker than usual.
Delilah opened her gifts. Draco's was a pouch and included a letter and note. The note read in Draco's surprisingly neat handwriting,
This pouch has an Undetectable Extension Charm so it will hold anything and feel weightless. Hope you find it useful.
Love Draco
P.S. Inside there's a book, I think you'll enjoy it.
It was remarkable, even if he probably had one of his parents do the charm. Delilah opened the bag and saw a book titled, Jinxes and Hexes - Extended Edition. Delilah grinned. Now that would definitely be useful.
Delilah looked back at the note, studying the letter's closing. It was... new.
Lyra's was a book about what made the relationship between Wizards and Muggles what it was today, that'd be an interesting read.
Fred and George got her some pranking supplies to try on Dudley.
Daphne's was some eyeliner and Hagrid had gotten her a Monster Book of Monsters. Delilah stroked the spine to calm it down and then belted it. She had read about it in a random library book she had grabbed.
Delilah saw Harry who was opening his and watched. This should be entertaining.
Harry pulled off the wrapping and jumped back. The book had tried to bite him. Delilah contemplated helping him, but knew he'd figure it out.
Harry got on his bed and the Monster Book of Monsters followed him. He jumped on it and belted it shut. Huh, guess he did have some common sense.
Harry turned to Delilah.
"Why did he send us these monstrous books? Is he trying to kill us?" he exclaimed.
"Be quiet, we should read our letters, maybe they're on the list for Care of Magical Creatures, it is about magical creatures," she reasoned.
Harry nodded and grabbed his letter, Delilah did the same. The first page read:
Dear Ms. Potter,
Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.
Third-years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign.
A list of books for next year is enclosed.
Yours sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Delilah opened the list of spellbooks.
Third-years will require the following books:
Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Three by Miranda Goshawk
The Monster Book of Monsters by Edwardus Lima
Beginners Guide to Alchemy by Silvena Dulno
Ancient Runes Made Easy by Laurenzoo
Rune Dictionary by Yuri Blishen
Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms
Advanced Rune Translation by Yuri Blishen
She pulled the Hogsmeade permission form out and decided to ask Aunt Petunia to sign it later, she would be more easily convinced than Uncle Vernon.
Delilah looked at the clock, it was already two thirty. She put all her books on the nightstand, and lay down.
For the first time ever, Delilah Potter felt just like everyone else — glad that it was her birthday.