A magical love affair - Severus Snape x Petunia Evans

The wonders of magic, I!

Park near Spinner's End, Cokeworth, July 1978

Petunia bit nervously on her lip, anxiously bobbing up and down with her right foot and brushing some lose strand of her honey-blond curls behind her left ear. Talking about her attitude towards magic and the Magical world really made her anxious because it would enable Severus to see her vulnerable, insecure soul. But Petunia didn't want to hedge this uncomfortable topic because she trusted Severus and he had already seen her at her worst. Besides that, she really wanted to know more about the magical adventures he kept referring to. For Lily never included Petunia in her talks about the Magical world or took her on a trip to Diagon Alley. Sure, it was partly her own fault that Lily never invited her to a shopping tour to Diagon Alley or told her some magical tales. Because due to her bitterness, envy and despair of not possessing magical powers and never visiting Hogwarts as a student, Petunia had acted enraged and spiteful by her magical stories and newly learned charms, spells or curses, named Lily a freak and pretended to hate everything magical at first.

Therefore, Lily never approached her to talk about the goings-on in the Wizarding world and never introduced her to the wonders of the Magical world. Petunia realized that Lily would have most likely shared her new experiences with her and explained the idiosyncrasies of the magical culture to her years ago if she hadn't shut her out of her life completely. But she couldn't turn back time, so she would gladly sponge up any pieces of information from Severus and get her issues with magic off her chest because they really burdened her and turned her into a bitter, jealous fury. Hence, Petunia gathered all her courage, sorted out her milling around thoughts and started to answer Severus questions.

"Well, as you must know, magic is a difficult topic for me, because I already confessed to being jealous of Lily's magical powers. I'm also aware that you know about the pathetic letter I wrote to Prof. Dumbledore, asking him about accepting me to Hogwarts without magical abilities. I was furious when I learned that Lily and you intercepted it and mocked me for my naivety and stupidity. It really hurt me to the core because I always wanted to be special and experience many adventures in my life. Sure, partly this desire derived from my feelings of being neglected by our parents and only being plain, ordinary Petunia while Lily was the shining light of everyone's life. Therefore, I mistakenly believed, that only her magical abilities made everybody love her more and me possessing some would make our parents love me and guarantee a happy, popular and adventuresome life for me.

What I didn't realize then was that Lily's magical powers indeed captured our parents' attention. But they admired her for more things than that. So, I doubt that me turning out to be a witch would catch their attention more. Nevertheless, I also desired to be magical because magic promises a whole new world of wonders and adventures. You can change your appearance by the whim of your wand, transfigure a stylish outfit or travel by the means of spinning around in thin air. Besides that, magic gives you the power to change almost everything. You can renovate your room with a flick of your wand, you can tidy up your messy apartment in a few minutes and cultivate vegetables and herbs in ideal circumstances. Your life as a witch or wizard seems so easy because you need little time to accomplish great things and can almost make anything out of nothing.

In addition, your magical powers open up your mind to a whole new, fantastic world full of miracles and adventures. You can encounter new beings like magical creatures, vampires, elves, werewolves, ghosts, dragons, and goblins. Fly on a broomstick, see moving photos or speaking portraits and communicate through your fireplace or a charm. It all seems like a big, crazy and colorful adventure. But as a Muggle these adventures are unattainable, far away dreams in a promised land. Therefore, you must live your bleak, ordinary life without any mind-blowing miracles. You can't see Hogwarts, feel the powerful vibes of a magical spell or charm and hear the song of a phoenix. You are excluded from magical places and you will never be able to defend yourself with a powerful spell or brew a Healing Potion that will heal your broken bones in mere minutes. To answer your question in one sentence. The power you possess, the adventures you experience and the chances you have, fascinate me the most about being magical. Do you think that I'm delusional for wanting this?", Petunia inquired with a raised eyebrow.