June, 1972

It was the second day after Lily had gotten home from her first year at what her parents referred to as 'Aberdeen Academy', also known as 'Hogwarts'. It was raining pretty hard, a cold, nasty day, but Lily and Petunia and Severus were in rain gear huddled in the bushes under the biggest tree at the playground between their homes.

Lily and Severus had a lot to tell their best friend and sister, who had not qualified for the elite school.

"First, from now on you MUST pretend to hate us. Ignore us, insult us, don't be seen near us without a sneer on your face. We'll meet in secret. We'll talk in sort of a code. Things like, 'I never want to see you again,' will actually mean you need to speak to us privately as quickly as possible. 'Don't touch my stuff,' will mean 'I put something on my desk you need to see.' Always assume someone bad is listening."

"But why? I even wrote the school and begged for a way to attend even if I couldn't take the special classes! Surely they have regular classes that everyone takes?"

"And that is why. You were noticed being interested, and you don't fit some plan. Also, they don't have what we would consider 'normal' classes. We have been paying attention, and then did some research in the Library. By about 5th year we will have to been seen to be completely split up, not one of us speaking to another. That is because Lily and I were sorted into rival Houses, and you are a Squib."

"That matters?"

"It does, more than you can imagine. Our two Houses are set at each other like cats and dogs, or worse. Her House is supposed to not care that you are a Squib, but they actually are being trained to forget you even exist. Mine is being trained that you are vermin; that you need extermination. I am already being forced to associate with horrible people, and will probably be forced to join the Terrorists when I grow up. Which is why we are saying 5th year – we are trapped in Contracts and cannot even change schools until we take our OWLs at the end of 5th year."

"What is a Squib?"

"That means I was born able to access my magical Core, but you cannot. I don't know why. You have Magic, or are at least sensitive to it even if you cannot focus it. At least one of our parents must also carry the gene, if it IS a gene. Probably both, or I wouldn't be the way I am. They are just like you. Which is what Sevi and I spent all year researching, and we think we have some answers. We have some things to teach you. You will have to teach our parents in secret, because I am being watched. My watcher is a wimp and is in the tea shop at the corner – she doesn't know I'm here! You can go shopping with Mom, or to work with Dad, while I stay home reading where they can see me. At home, you must complain about me, loudly!"

"So, what can I do? Not Magic."

"Exactly! NOT Magic! You see, every Magic Spell has two parts. There is the spell that makes the effect, and there is the part that turns it off! There are ways to detect Magic, to reveal the presence of Magic to those who are sensitive. NONE of these are doing Magic! Sevi and I carefully set up a whole bag of small things to practice on before we left school. Most of them look like slips of paper with scratched notes or sketches, so no one else cares about them."

First, we need to teach you a simple detection key. You don't need a wand. You aren't doing magic. You are just opening your eyes to what is there. There are many of these, intended to decipher fancy spells, but we'll start with a simple one that lights up to tell you something is there. Some colors are dangerous, like a sickly green fungus or a hot red. Just be careful, don't touch them! If you have to look normal, like turning a green doorknob, cover your hand! I'll teach you some variations to show potions, later. I want you to cover your eyes with your hands now, and simply say the word, 'revealo'. It's lousy Latin, but that doesn't matter – it's something that you aren't likely to say by accident. We'll repeat this until it works, but it shouldn't take long. You'll want to say this every morning when you get up, and frequently when you are around Wizards."

Obediently, Petunia laid her wet hands over her eyes, pushing back her dripping bangs, and began chanting the silly word. Each time, she dropped her hands to look at the other two for a moment. Lily was holding a scrap of that paper she used, with a sketch of a petunia on it. It was getting wet but the ink was not running. About the 10th attempt, the scrap was glowing pale blue! Petunia was astonished!

"Good. You'll need more practice, but we brought a whole bag to practice with. We can't CAST magic in the Holidays, but we have plenty of magical items! Now, we need to teach you the first canceling key. We decided on 'Finite', which is a powerful key with broad uses, taught to first year students because it IS so broad. It works on a great many kinds of magic! You don't need a wand, but we decided it might help you focus if you point a finger. With some practice, just looking should do the job."

Petunia hesitantly pointed a finger close to the scrap, and repeated the words. And again. And again – the third time two things happened: a tiny blue spark leaped to her finger, and the scrap blurred, reshaped, and was suddenly a bit of vine with a blue flower! Lily handed it to her, and she tucked it in a pocket.

"That spark was magic released by the spell being canceled, but since you can't use it, it will dissipate into the environment. If you do this a lot it may build up a bit of a static charge in you that will make canceling bigger spells easier. Watch for these sketches. I'll tuck them into everything I send home so you can practice! Here is the first rose for Mom, and here is a caduceus for Dad. Also, if I have something important and secret to write, I'll hide it in one of these, marked with a Petunia for you, a rose for Mum, or the caduceus for Dad. Be sure you destroy them, rip them up, burn them if you can and scatter the ashes. I'll only do that if I'm sure someone is reading my mail, so it's a warning!" Petunia tucked the slips into her pocket, and looked back at her sister, but it was Sevi who spoke next.

"One more. That word ends most spells that change one thing to another, but you also need one that simply ends effects. 'Nox' means 'night', and it is the general word used to turn off the lights. Again, you don't need a wand but you do need to be close to what you are looking at. It will turn off most spells that are simply sitting somewhere, like a listening charm on a lamp. You need to look at your entire house, item by item as you help Mom with chores. Once you have them all located, we can decide how to shut them down without the Wizards being alerted.

We checked each other on the train coming back and cleaned off all the listening and tracking charms, except those on our wands or uniforms. We're leaving those in our trunks. You will need to check us every time you meet us, and if you detect one of these charms decide if it is safe to remove it. Act accordingly – if you know there is a sickly yellow listening charm on Lily, be nasty until you can be sneaky about removing it. We'll understand and act accordingly. You don't want that watcher to hear you! That watcher will not be around every day, or even all day when she is here. She just checks on all the muggle-born. She won't particularly care if it's gone, because they wear off people quite quickly. She just replaces them all Summer."

Sevi held out a small. glowing ball. Petunia looked worried, but pointed at it and said 'Nox'. It blinked, but resumed. She got firmer, repeated, and this time it blinked out completely. Sevi tucked it back in his own pocket. "That's a common toy, and pretty strongly charmed. I'll see how long it stays off, and then we can try again."

The storm was increasing in intensity. The branches tossed. One broke off, crashing down behind Petunia. "There's my cue. I'll blame you for that, and claim you were aggressive - picking on the poor squib!" Sevi looked, nodded at her, and they scattered back to the houses.

Lily slowed, and then went to the tea shop. "Anyone seen my sister?", she asked as she blew in the door. "I can't find her this morning, and I want her to tell me why she's hiding from me!" Her father looked up from his mug and sticky roll, and invited her to have a seat. She collected her own bun and a cup of tea, glad to be warm and dry.

Petunia, realizing Lily was going to meet their father and decoy the watcher, went into the house alone. Their mother came out to help her remove her dripping coat. As she hung it, Petunia realized two things: her sight was still turned on, and that ugly vase was glowing a sickly yellow. She decided to do a little housecleaning. "I am so mad at that sister of mine! She went out this morning to meet that boy. I followed them, and he dropped a big branch! It could have hit me!" She was stamping and swinging her arms in a full tantrum, and 'accidentally' knocked the vase onto the tile floor of the hall. Of course it shattered! Again, she felt the little zing of the magic, but noticed her mother was also startled. "I'm sorry, Mum." She was instantly contrite, and got the cleaning tools out of the tiny closet. "I'll clean this up and then help you with the shopping." Action followed, and quickly the pair were dressed for the weather and off to the bus stop at the end of the block.

As they stood in the little shelter, waiting, her mother had a few words for her. "Just what was THAT about, missy? You have never been jealous or snoopy, but that is what you are acting like! Why did you smash that vase? I know you did it on purpose. I never liked it, such an ugly color, but it was a gift."

"Who was it a gift from? It just appeared in the hall one day." That stopped her mother, who was clearly trying to recall who gave it to her.

"That is what I meant. It was planted on us, and I'm pretty sure it was bugged." Standing in the noisy bus shelter, with the rain and wind, no one could possibly overhear them. Petunia explained what she had just been taught. "When we finish shopping we can stop in a tea shop where no one knows us, and I'll start teaching you what they taught me today." When they went home Rose had a lovely red rose wrapped in a napkin, tucked in the top of her string bag.

When August 30 came around, several things were different. The neighbors were all used to the new normal, where Petunia Evans was extremely jealous of her sister who had been accepted to that exclusive Art school, Aberdeen Academy, in Scotland. Lily had attended art classes all Summer at the nearby college, and went back to school with a second trunk full of art supplies as well as a set of correspondence-school books. Dad was not going to let his little girl be left out of getting a 'real' education. He even made sure Sevi was also enrolled and had his own set, using their address.

Both parents and Petunia now included 'Revealo' in thir morning routines, and all three had become very clumsy, breaking quite a few trinkets or forgetting ordinary household items outside. All of them checked Lily and Sevi as well as each other, and silently alerted them when glows appeared on them. Petunia, in her character as the sneaky, snoopy older sister, managed to remove quite a few just following them around. There were a great many vases of flowers, in every room, that had once been slips of paper. Dad had some nice new paperweights, too.