By Em and Jamie

Chapter One: Of Twins, Teams, and Tie-Dye

Thursday, May 17, 2014

Mrs. Lister (or Mrs. Blister, as most of the students not-so-fondly called her) was on the rampage again. It hadn't even been 10 minutes through Advanced Mathematics, and she had already given out three detentions, and warned the entire class with administrative referral. And, as usual, her main targets were the Lupin twins.

"James Lupin! Pay attention!" She yelled sharply from her computer. James' head snapped up from the notes he had been copying from his

sister, Emily, only to look into the sharp green eyes of the resident evil. Emily, who was next to him, sighed. It was going to be one of those days again.

"Would you care to share your notes with the rest of the class?" Next to him, he felt Emily tense up.

"Go right ahead," she said, under her breath. "Read his juicy secrets." James looked at his sister in surprise; though she was usually quiet and reserved, it was widely well known that she held a special grudge for Mrs. Helen Lister. He just didn't think she would ever talk back, even if it was under her breath.

"I heard that. Hold your tongue, Ms. Lupin. Let's see now..." Mrs. Lister said, adjusting her glasses so that she could read the notes more

easily. "'X' is a variable, used to represent an unknown number in an equation..." The rest of the class laughed at her missed judgement. She looked up sharply. "For that cheek of yours, Emily, you get detention for the next week. And so do you, James, for passing notes." The class shut up; if the two students with the highest grades just got a week's worth of detention, what would happen to the rest of them?

"That's not fair!" James said, his face turning a vivid shade of red. "I wasn't passing notes!"

"Another week's worth, James, for back-talk." Disgusted, Emily stood up and gathered her things.

"I'm not going to sit through a class where people get detention for nothing," she said. James pulled her down next to him and hoarsely

whispered to her.

"Em...." he started.

"James, you heard the woman! Sometimes she makes me so...mad!" As she said this, she gestured with her hand over to the seething Mrs. Lister, then turned her attention back to gathering her things together. Suddenly, a scream erupted from the teacher, sending the students scattering. James looked up. Mrs. Lister had apparently caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the classroom window and was now screaming at her appearance; somehow, it seemed that her entire personage had acquired a rather...colorful hue. James laughed. Their teacher had been mysterious tie-dyed- from bee-hived hair to orthopedic shoe clad toe. Emily was already out the door, clutching her books to her chest. James caught up to her at the door to the school.

"Em, where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"HOME!" she shouted back at him.

"Do you realize how much trouble we'll be in with Mum and Dad if we get home this early?"

"Mum and Dad will understand. I'm going home." James sighed. There was no dealing with her when she was in one of these moods. He benignly followed his sister down the street away from the school. Emily and James Lupin made an interesting picture moving quickly up the sidewalk towards their home, just outside Cambridge, England. Emily was taking long strides, befitting her athletic build, while her twin brother was jogging lightly to keep up with his irritated counterpart. In a matter of minutes they had reached the brick house at the end of Raleigh Street. Emily stomped onto the porch and took out her key, opening the door.

The house was absolutely pitch black. James and Emily stood in the front hallway, confused. Surely either Mum or Dad would be home now? James lit up his watch. 12:46. They had left right before lunchtime. Mum was probably at work, and Dad was probably holed up in the computer room, checking stocks or something. Odd... Emily had dropped her books and was now heading up the stairs. James decided to check the kitchen. The door was closed, though. He pulled back the handle and all of the lights went on. Emily stopped halfway up the staircase and ran after her brother to the kitchen.

"SURPRISE!" The kitchen was decked out in unbelievable streamers of every color (especially tie-dye, James noted), and a most curious sight ensued...Mum and Dad were standing in the middle of the kitchen, wearing bathrobes of some sort and each holding something behind their backs.

"Happy Birthday, you two," Mum said, kissing both of them on top of their heads. Emily was flabbergasted, and James looked equally confused.

Mum laughed. That's right, it was their eleventh birthday...James had forgotten, what with the Blister and all.

"Who are you and what have you done with Penny and Remus Lupin?" Emily said under her breath. Their parents were wearing robe thingies; Dad's being dark blue, and Mum's being red, and each was carrying a stick of wood. The things behind their backs turned out to be bulky letters written in some strange green ink. Emily turned to James and gave him a look that plainly said the same thing that he was thinking: Our parents have lost it. Mum, reading their faces, laughed again.

Jamie gave each of his parents a puzzled grin and grabbed a cookie from the plate on the table- he had a feeling that whatever he was about to hear; he'd need sustenance for it.

"Kuk ox oufitcz." He said around a mouthful of chocolate chips and cookie.

His father winced, "Pardon?"

"I said," Jamie swallowed quickly, "Kick as-"

"James Lupin," His mother interrupted, "I want you to think carefully before you finish that statement- is it really worth what I'll have to do to you after it's out?" Jamie appeared to be weighing his options as Emily helped herself to a cookie.

He apparently decided against completing his thought, because he instead grinned widely and said, "Great outfits. What's up? You're

a bit early for Halloween."

"That's what we have to tell you two about." Remus smiled at the confused expression that settled on his son's face. Emily walked over and plopped down in the chair next to her father, equally puzzled.

"What, you're going to some costume party on our birthday?"

"No, not exactly." He replied.

"Well, go on. Spit it out." Jamie said, biting another chunk out of the remaining half of his cookie.

And so they did. As Remus said "What if we told you magic was real?" Penny started, "There's a whole other world you don't know about."

The statement their two children actually heard was something like, "What if a whole you world was real know about." Leaving both of them utterly mystified.

"Come again?" Jamie asked.

After a shared look with her husband, Penelope Lupin blurted out; "Wizards and witches exist. Magic is real. I'm a witch, your father is a wizard." Now it was Emily and Jamie's turn for a shared look; one where both were obviously questioning their beloved parents' sanity; but whereas Emily had a dubious, slightly bemused look on her face, Jamie was quite thrilled that his parents' sanity seemed to have finally sunken to his own self proclaimed sub-normal level.

Looking from his son's face to his daughter's, Remus Lupin realized they'd need proof. He turned to his wife. "I don't think they believe us, Penny, dear. Well, you'll understand a lot more after reading these." He held out one of the thick envelopes to each of them. James tore into his letter (addressed to Mr. James Lupin, he noted with satisfaction), which said:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Minerva McGonagall

Emily finished reading her letter first which was identical to her brothers save for the address. She looked up at them, puzzled.

"So you're saying that we're 'wizards'....."