New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤
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‘Damn Ashworth!’
Snape put every bit of effort he had into explaining the magical world to Lily and Petunia.
He chose the parts least likely to sound dangerous, trying to repair Lily’s first impression of magic before Callan’s warnings could sink in too deeply.
“Children our age almost never manage powerful magic,” Snape said, talking on and on.
“Most of what happens comes from emotional outbursts. Hurting ourselves or our families is nearly impossible.”
He kept at it until Lily’s face finally began to soften.
Only then did he let out a breath.
Petunia still looked suspicious.
She leaned closer to Lily and whispered, “I think Callan sounded more convincing. Maybe we should go ask him again.”
Lily thought about it, then nodded.
She turned to Snape.
“Do you know where Callan went?”
Snape noticed that Lily, like Petunia, had already started calling that boy Callan instead of Ashworth.
The name sounded far too familiar.
“No,” he said stiffly.
“Snape!”
Lily caught the edge in his voice and glared at him.
“You both know about the magical world, don’t you? Don’t you know him?”
“Who would know someone like that?” Snape muttered.
“He came out of nowhere.”
Lily shot him another look, grabbed her sister’s hand, and ran toward the hedge.
Snape stayed where he was, his face dark.
In the end, he clutched his coat tighter around himself and followed.
‘Damn Ashworth.’
Not far away, in a small patch of woodland, Callan sat alone on the grass.
His eyes were fixed on a stone in front of him as he tried to make it float.
From the story he remembered, Callan knew perfectly well that Harry Potter had once made an entire pane of glass vanish at the zoo.
That was the Vanishing Spell, an advanced piece of magic usually taught in fifth-year Transfiguration, and yet a child who had not even entered Hogwarts had done it almost effortlessly.
No collapse.
No exhaustion.
No obvious backlash.
Even if it had only happened because of Harry’s passing thought and unconscious impulse, it was enough to make Callan wonder.
‘If he could do it, there is no reason I cannot do something similar.’
Reality, unfortunately, had been happy to teach him a lesson.
Wands existed for a reason.
At the moment, the only wandless magic he could use with any real consistency was levitation and simple movement.
‘So I’m still not at young Tom Riddle’s level.
Then again, I might be able to reach it if I tried other kinds of magic.’
The stone, roughly the size of his head, hovered in front of him.
‘But without enough focus in one area, I will never know what my actual limit is.
At least for now, I should already be better than most first-years.’
‘Only when it comes to levitation and movement, though.’
Callan smiled at himself.
He held his palm beneath the stone, lifted it higher without the slightest strain, then let it drift slowly back down until it stopped in front of him again.
“That is enough for today.”
He released his focus.
The stone dropped onto the grass.
Then he turned toward Lily and Petunia as they ran over.
“What is it?”
Both sisters had seen the stone floating.
Lily asked before she could stop herself, “How did you do that? Why can’t I…”
She pointed at the stone, then at the sky.
“That is called wandless magic,” Callan said patiently.
“It is a very advanced skill. Most magical outbursts from children our age count as wandless magic in the broadest sense, but those are accidents. They usually cannot be controlled with any precision.”
His small face grew serious again.
“And I strongly suggest you do not try to force it, Lily. If you lose control, even a little, the result can go wrong in ways we cannot predict. For your own safety, do not practice it on purpose. Even I have only managed this one little trick with any confidence. I have not dared push much further.”
“Even you?”
Snape had caught up with the sisters.
The moment he heard Callan speak, he sneered.
“You talk as if you’re someone important.”
“Snape!”
Lily glared at him again.
Snape’s face flushed with anger and hurt.
He turned on Callan.
“Then explain what you meant earlier. If you know the magical world exists, you know those examples you gave are almost impossible. You were frightening them on purpose!”
“Is that true, Callan?” Lily asked.
Then, as if she felt she needed to explain herself, she added, “What Snape said is very different from what you said. That’s why we came to ask you. Is he telling the truth?”
Callan gave Snape a mild glance, then turned back to Lily and Petunia and nodded.
“Yes. It is true. I was frightening you on purpose.”
“See?” Snape cried, looking as if he had won.
“See?”
“But why would you do that?” Lily asked.
She did not let Callan’s answer, or Snape’s triumphant tone, lead her by the nose.
Even Petunia did not fully take Snape’s side.
She only looked at Callan with confusion.
Callan smiled, satisfied.
Only then did he point at Lily, then at Petunia.
“Because I think you two sisters care about each other.”
Before either of them could ask more, he continued gently.
“In the wizarding world, there is a law called the International Statute of Secrecy. It prevents witches and wizards from revealing magic to Muggles who have no need to know. But that secrecy also makes witches and wizards seem strange in Muggle eyes, especially in front of outsiders.”
“And in your case, Petunia is caught in the middle. She can know about magic because of you, Lily. But because she is a Muggle, she cannot use it herself. It may be fine for now, but if that goes on for years, other feelings can grow from it. You are her sister, but you are also someone the world might teach her to see as strange.”
“I’m not strange,” Lily muttered.
Still, she looked uncertainly at Petunia.
“Petunia, do you think I’m strange?”
“I…”
Petunia did not answer at once.
She hesitated.
Just as Lily’s face began to fall, Callan spoke at exactly the right moment.
“Of course you are not strange, Lily. I am not strange either. Witches and wizards are not strange.”
“But the distance between the wizarding world and the Muggle world is real. You have something Petunia does not. If I were Petunia, I would probably feel something complicated too. That is nothing to fear, and nothing to be ashamed of. It is only human.”
“I would feel it too.”
Callan repeated that last sentence deliberately, easing the embarrassment in Petunia’s face.
“That is why I frightened you. Mostly, I was trying to frighten Petunia. If I could make her keep a little distance from the magical world, that might have been even better.”
He admitted it openly.
“Because magic has already put enough distance between witches and Muggles. If that distance were allowed to break two sisters apart, it would be too cruel.”
“Time changes everything. But some things become more precious precisely because they survive time.”
Callan stepped closer to Lily and Petunia.
“Some things may not be able to defeat time,” he said, “but compared with magic, they matter far more.”
“Like the bond between sisters. It is in your blood. It is nobler than magic, and far more worth protecting.”
When he finished, the flowers around him rose one by one.
They wove together in the air, forming two flower crowns that settled naturally on Lily’s and Petunia’s heads.
“See?” Callan said with a faint smile.
“Beautiful flowers for two even more beautiful young ladies. In front of me, there is no difference between Muggle and witch. There is only a bond that might still be saved before it breaks.”
“You could also call that bond family.”
Under Callan’s gaze, Lily held her sister’s hand tightly.
“Petunia…”
Petunia touched the flower crown on her head and glanced at Callan.
In the end, she pouted and said, “Fine. You’re not strange. But you still have to listen to Mum about some things. No doing whatever you like.”
After a pause, she added more quietly, “And listen to Callan too.”
“Petunia!”
Lily cried out happily and threw her arms around her sister.
“Of course,” Callan said, watching the scene with the warm satisfaction of someone who had done a good deed without asking for credit.
“As I said before, even Muggles can enjoy some magical toys or sweets. You will not be completely cut off from the fun of magic. I am sure Snape will be willing to explain the details.”
“I will not!”
Snape felt as if he might explode.
“This is the second time. The second time! What do you think I am, your little follower? Why should I have to obey you?”
His gaze turned to Petunia again, clearly unhappy with her being a Muggle.
“And do you expect me to explain things to this…”
His finger pointed sharply at Petunia.
Lily’s brows drew together.
Just as she was about to demand an answer, Callan suddenly appeared in front of Snape.
“Snape!”
There was something arresting in Callan’s gaze.
Snape shrank despite himself, the words dying in his throat.
Then anger at his own reaction surged up, and he looked ready to fight.
But Callan’s voice cut in again, low and heavy.
“Look at yourself.”
“What?”
Snape froze.
Callan tugged lightly at the oversized coat on Snape’s body.
Snape clutched it at once, desperately trying to hide the smock-like blouse underneath, but Callan had already seen it.
Callan was not afraid of the murderous look Snape gave him.
He pointed at the clothes and said, “Is this how you should present yourself in front of two beautiful young ladies? Is this how a gentleman should look, Snape?”
Snape’s expression darkened with every word.
He looked ready to burst.
“People from Spinner’s End all look like that,” Petunia muttered with disgust, as if warning Callan to keep away from someone like Snape.
“Not quite, Petunia. I live in Spinner’s End too. It is all right.”
Callan showed no offense at all.
Seeing Petunia’s sudden panic, he said patiently, “In truth, I dislike the place too. In that sense, I agree with you.”
“But.”
His voice sharpened again as he turned back to Snape.
“Poverty is not a sin. Poverty should not be a reason to feel inferior, and it is certainly not an excuse to give up on yourself. I may look better than you at first glance, but only because I take a little more care with my appearance. It does not make me richer. It only keeps me from being rude in front of ladies.”
“What are you talking about?” Snape asked, now completely lost.
“Your clothes are too big. They are ugly and they do not fit. So alter them. It does not take much effort. The clothes I am wearing were altered the same way.”
Snape finally looked at Callan properly, especially at the clothes on him.
Compared with his own, they really did look much better.
Callan had already begun circling him, speaking casually.
“We are only taking large clothes and making them smaller. That is much simpler. The leftover cloth can be used too, so nothing goes to waste. And your hair…”
“What about my hair?”
Snape clapped both hands over his head and backed away.
“Cut it shorter. Long hair is harder to manage, and if you go too long without washing it, it looks greasy.”
“No.”
Snape showed unprecedented firmness.
“Tch.”
Callan twisted his mouth and gave Snape a displeased look.
In the end, he gave up on that idea.
“Fine. That makes things simpler. I will bring needle, thread, and scissors tomorrow.” He turned to Lily and Petunia.
“Can you two come?”
The sisters discussed it and gave him a time.
Both said they could.
“As for you…”
Callan looked Snape up and down.
“Bring yourself. Wear the clothes. That will be enough. With four of us working together, it should not take long. We can finish in one day.”
“Don’t order me around!”
Snape looked furious, and his gaze once again flicked toward Petunia.
His dislike of her Muggle identity was obvious.
“I think,” Callan said, raising his voice over him, “that if we want to make this work, or keep any real friendship at all, we have to throw away every mistaken idea about witches, wizards, and Muggles.”
“Besides, Lily is Petunia’s sister. And Petunia…”
He looked at Snape with warning in his eyes.
“Petunia is Lily’s sister. If someone hates Petunia for a reason that small, I do not believe Lily would help that person with anything. I do not believe she would be friends with someone like that either.”
“Am I right, Lily?”
Lily nodded at once.
Petunia added, “Same for me.”
“Cough.”
Callan coughed at the wrong moment, then quickly turned his attention elsewhere.
“Then do you have any objections, Snape?”
‘Damn Ashworth.’
Snape stared at him for a while before answering stiffly, “No.”
“Excellent.”
Once again, Callan enjoyed the quiet satisfaction of doing a good deed without taking credit for it.
“Then I will see you tomorrow.”
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Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.