Petunia paced around for a moment. “Why,” she thought, “Why can I see it?” “Maybe because I’m related to a wizard...” she muttered, “Or maybe I remember it wrong. Maybe everyone can see the grave.” Just then Uncle Vernon appeared. “The meeting is over,” he said, “What are you staring at?” Just then Petunia realised she was staring at the gravestone. “You can’t see it?” she said, panicking. “Can’t see what?” replied Vernon. “The.. the..” stuttered Petunia, “The gravestone?!” “Whaddya talkin’ about?” said Vernon. “There’s nothing here!” The next day… Petunia was about to do something she thought she would never, ever, EVER do in her life. She was going to talk to someone.. Someone… Well, someone she wished to forget. She was going to talk to someone who probably hated her, but he was her only option. She was going to talk to her nephew, Harry Potter. Petunia carefully dialed his number, every digit reconsidering doing this. She felt a bad feeling deep inside her. She knew what she heard from him she would not like, but she did it anyways. The phone started ringing. “Hello,” replied a muffled voice in the phone, “Harry Potter here.” “Hello Harry” answered Petunia, “Long time, no see.” “Petunia?” exclaimed Harry, “Why did you call me?” “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t desperately need your help, but I do” said Petunia. “Yesterday your Uncle had a meeting at Godric’s Hollow,” She began, “and it got boring waiting for him, so I went outside to roam. As I wandered about, I saw a bunch of cloaked figures crying over a grave in the graveyard. Upon closer inspection, I realised it was your parents graves. Then I remembered… Only wizards can see their graves, so why could I?” There was a long silence. All of a sudden, Harry replied, “That’s very odd. Hogwarts was protected with the same spell, yet no muggles managed to see through it. This… Well, this could only mean one thing, but I highly believe this...” ”What is it?” said Petunia, anxious for the answer. She unconsciously knew what it was going to be, but denied it. “Petunia...” said Harry, “You’re a wizard.” Petunia screamed. Loudly. “No, no, no, no, NO!” wailed Petunia, “This just isn’t possible.” ”I’m normal...” she muttered, “He’s lying.” ”I’m not, Petunia.” said Harry. Petunia was in such a shock, she forgot she was still on the phone. “You being a wizard is the best explanation,” he continued, “You’ve got to accept that.” “But I don’t have any magical powers!” Petunia exclaimed. “Think,” said Harry “Has anything, ANYTHING strange ever happened around you?” Petunia thought for a second, and then replied, “Well, once or twice...” “Go on! What happened?” asked Harry. “Well,” Petunia started, “One time, when I was twelve, I took a stroll at night. As I was walking down the path I saw a large pine tree collapsed right in front of it. All of a sudden, the branch levitated. It soared high into the air, and disappeared out of sight. I ran back home, and dismissed it as a dream.” “Hmm… interesting,” said Harry, “That is very typical untrained witch behavior.” Witch. Petunia shivered at that word. To her it always meant evil, and knowing that she might be one simply freaked her out. “How do I learn how to control my powers?” asked Petunia. “You’re in luck,” replied Harry, “The Ministry of Magic just discovered a thousand or so witches and wizards who never attended a magical school, and never knew how to control their powers.” Harry continued, “They opened a new school for these people, and all they have to do is attend to a meeting.” “When is this meeting?” asked Petunia. “Next week, Saturday. It’s at an “abandoned school” ten blocks away from where we live called Plignentoony.” “There?” said Petunia, “Dudley used to play around there as a toddler, but there was nothing there!” “That’s nothing a cloaking spell and some magic can’t fix.” said Harry. All of a sudden, Dudley and Vernon came in from the front door. In all this shock, Petunia forgot they left to see a movie together. She quickly thanked Harry and hung up. “How were you talkin’ to?” asked Dudley. “Just some work stuff, Sweetie. I have a meeting next Saturday.” The following Saturday… Petunia pulled over a block away from her destination. She was frightened,yet excited at the same time. She sprinted as fast as her stubby legs could take her around the block, and what she saw next was spectacular. It was a tall gleaming golden tower, the height of a skyscraper. It’s top sharp like a pencil. Petunia’s breath was taken away. She stood there, admiring it for a few moments, until her neck hurt from craning it so she could see the top. At a slow pace, Petunia walked towards the doors of the building. They were glass. She swung the doors open to find a large ballroom looking room, that was twice the width of the tower itself. There was a sea of chairs, most of them occupied by people. Petunia sat down at a chair near the front. A few minutes later, a loud voice began. “Hello fellow wizards,”
said the voice, “I welcome you to the school of Plignentoony, a place where older wizards can learn. At the beginning of the the year, the students are split into houses. These houses represent your personality. They can gain points. These points will be added up at the end of the year, and the winning house will get a very special prize. I could tell you about the houses, or, I could let a friend of mine introduce them to you.” Suddenly, a snowy owl swooped in, and a large pile of feathers fell from the sky. Every feather had something engraved in it, but Petunia couldn’t make out what they said. Then, the snowy owl started speaking. “Plignentoony is a very special school indeed. Here, we have four houses. Unicorn, Pegasus, Alicorn and SwordFish. People who are in the Unicorn house tend to be brave and carefree. They will do anything they like, no matter the consequences. People that are in the Pegasus house tend to be very loyal and hardworking. They don’t care if they are last, as long as they did the job well. People who are in the Alicorn house are sly and ambitious. If they have their hearts set on something, they will almost always get it. And finally, people in the Swordfish house tend to be intelligent and alert. These people are always ahead of the game.” “Now for the most interesting part,” continued the owl, “How do you get into a house? Well, it’s very simple. I am telekinetic. As I entered the room, I immediately knew what house you are in. Each one of these feathers has a name written on them. I will separate them into piles. Whatever pile your name is in, is your house! Let’s begin! ” Petunia bit her nails nervously. The owl swooped around, and in ten minutes, there were four tall piles of feathers, neatly stacked one beside each other. One by one, the owl called out names. “In the Unicorn house is: Janette Smith, Percy Jones...” until finally, Petunia’s name was called. “In the Alicorn house is: Petunia Dursley...” Petunia smiled. This was the beginning of something great. This was the beginning of a new life.
