#muggleobservations

“But look! That thing,” he pointed to the projector on the ceiling, “is shining light so brightly, it’s making a picture on that wall!”

He was speaking in the tone of voice one would expect from a three-year-old explaining what they could see around them. A man in the row in front turned around and gave Arthur a strange look. Ginny smiled and patted her father’s shoulder.

“Dad, write it down instead.”

Arthur nodded and withdrew a small notebook and muggle pen from his pocket. It was his Muggle Observations book which Ginny had bought for him for moments just like this. He used it to write down everything he noticed which interested him so that he could discuss it at length with whoever would listen.

Molly tutted and shook her head at her husband, but Ginny saw her looking at the projector in interested disbelief.

Ginny always brought her parents to anything the kids did at school, not only because Arthur was ecstatic to be in the muggle primary school, but because Molly also took great delight in watching her grandchildren grow up. The Christmas nativity was a particular highlight for her, although Ginny and Harry were apprehensive about it this year.

If they could just get through the whole thing without Lily doing accidental magic (which happened when she was excited), they could breathe easily.

“Look, Gin.” Harry tapped her on the shoulder and pointed down at a page in the programme they’d been given on the way in. It read Ridge Oak Primary School Nativity 2014 on the front and contained several photographs inside.

The picture Harry was pointing at was of Lily’s year two class sat in rows and singing. Every child was sat with their legs crossed, singing sweetly, until the very end of the row where Lily was. She too sat with her legs crossed neatly, but wasn’t looking at the camera and had instead thrown her head back with the exuberance of her singing.

“Thank Merlin they didn’t give her a solo singing part,” Ginny grinned at her husband.

“I thought they did? She told me she was Angel Gabriel?” Harry looked confused and flicked to the cast list at the front of the programme. Next to the part of Angel Gabriel was the name of a girl in James’ class; definitely not Lily Potter.

“And you believed our six-year-old daughter?”

“How can you tell when she’s making things up?” Harry looked crestfallen.

“How can you not?” Ginny was laughing at her husband, who their daughter had firmly wrapped around her little finger.

“I think it’s starting,” Molly said, shushing them and settling to face the stage.

The lights in the school hall had dimmed and a spotlight shone down on a microphone to the side of the stage. A child stepped up to it and started to speak. Molly looked around agitatedly.

“Where’s James?” she hissed. “I thought he was the narrator.”

“There are a few narrators, Mum,” Ginny gently leant over her father to address her mother. Molly pursed her lips as if it wasn’t at all acceptable for anybody other than her grandchildren to be on the stage.

The narrator who wasn’t James finished speaking and the show started. To the side of the stage, Lily’s whole class could be seen sitting ready to sing.

While the children were all singing and Mary and Joseph wandered around the school hall on a hobby horse designed to look like a donkey, Lily spotted her parents in the audience. She didn’t stop singing but she waved enthusiastically, nearly poking the little boy next to her in the eye.

“Ironic that Lily was cast as an angel,” Ginny whispered into Harry’s ear as he watched her singing in her little angel costume. (A generic angel, not the lead role of Angel Gabriel she’d told Harry was hers.)

As they both watched their daughter sing, there was a moment when they both froze. Lily’s tinsel halo had started to levitate above her head, slowly rising up and away from her red hair. Their biggest worry was happening right in front of them.

“Is she… doing magic?” Harry hissed in horror as the halo rose higher. A child sat behind Lily had their eyes locked on in wonder.

“She’s excited about singing, oh Merlin make it stop!” Ginny kept her voice at a whisper but was internally panicking. The song went on and Lily’s halo was still hovering, completely disconnected from her head.

A few seats down from Lily was her teacher, Miss Emerson, who through a surprising turn of events, was well aware that the Potters were magical. She too had spotted Lily’s levitating halo and reached out to quickly grab it and lower it back down to Lily’s head. With the halo firmly held in place by her hand, Miss Emerson scanned the crowd for Harry and Ginny, shooting them a grin.

Ginny gave her a grateful look and Harry mouthed thank you across the hall.

“That was a close one,” Ginny muttered, keeping her eyes firmly locked on Lily.

The song finished and everybody clapped. James stepped up to the microphone and sought his parents out in the audience. He caught Harry’s eye and grinned widely, pressing his lips just a bit too close to the microphone and creating a muffled sound.

“Mary and Joseph travelled many miles to Bethlehem on a donkey,” he spoke confidently, as if he were announcing the lineup of a show.

“Look at Albus,” Ginny whispered and pointed out their second son to the side of the stage, dressed as a shepherd and holding a toy sheep. He was sat with the other shepherds in what was supposed to be a freeze frame, except Albus’ lips were moving as he mouthed all of James’ words along with him. Harry grinned at her and shook his head fondly.

“They needed to find somewhere to stay, so they asked some innkeepers if there was room.”

“What is he doing with his hands?” Arthur asked from Ginny’s other side.

“Signing. There are two hard of hearing children in this school.” Arthur nodded and looked back at James, who was continuing to tell the story of Mary and Joseph being turned away by the innkeepers.

“A kind innkeeper let them stay in his stable, because he had no room.” James smiled around and stepped down from the microphone and back into his space next to the other narrators.

“Look, an angel!” Albus delivered his line perfectly, which was no surprise considering he’d practised it every night at the dinner table between mouthfuls. The child who had actually been cast as the Angel Gabriel started to walk onto the stage.

There was a silent pause.

The girl beside Albus was staring at him with wide eyes. Albus looked at her pointedly. Nothing happened.

Over to the side of the stage, Miss Emerson was holding a script and watching the girl on the stage, looking like she was ready to jump in with the line any second.

Albus whispered something to the girl and her expression cleared. “Something terrible must have happened!” the girl exclaimed, spoiling the sentiment slightly by smiling at Albus.

The children all started to sing While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night and thankfully, Lily didn’t seem to be as excited by this song and kept the accidental magic under control from what Harry and Ginny could see.

“Look, its James again!” Molly whispered unnecessarily loudly. “Arthur, get the camera out again.”

Ginny pointedly avoided the confused stares of the people further down the row who had been taking photos of their children on a mobile phone, and were eyeing the large and old-fashioned looking (secretly magic) camera with fascination.

James confidently approached the microphone and told the audience how three wise men from the east followed a star to find the baby Jesus. There was more singing as children dressed as wise men walked through the middle of the audience, following another child holding up a big, silver star. The star was handed to James, who held it up proudly to say his next line.

“Jesus was born, and angels sent from heaven surrounded the stable.”

Lily’s class filed neatly onto the stage and Harry waved at their daughter, who gave him a big smile but also an expression that made it clear she was far too professional to wave back now she was on stage. There was another song, which Lily sang enthusiastically and Harry and Ginny crossed their fingers tightly throughout.

The song came to an end, and James went to speak again, but as he did, the star he was holding began to sparkle and glow as if it were alive with fairy dust. James stared at it in surprise, indicating he wasn’t aware this was going to happen. Similarly, a teacher behind him was rubbing the lenses of his glasses and staring in disbelief at the ethereal star.

“What amazing special effects!” somebody in the row behind commented.

Ginny took one look at Lily’s beam and shining eyes and she slid as far down in her seat as was socially acceptable. Harry had his head in one hand, an anguished look on his face.

James, while still blown away by the object in his hand, continued to say his lines, sounding only a little bit uncertain. Albus was looking between the star and his little sister, having worked out what was going on. He nudged Lily lightly and she turned around to smile at him too. He mouthed stop at her but she didn’t seem to understand him.

Albus’ intervention seemed to have distracted Lily enough that the star’s glow slowly diminished. Ginny was more than relieved, as she’d been having visions of the star beginning to levitate away from James.

The nativity came to an end and everyone clapped until the hall became a bustle of chatting parents and teachers. Nearly everyone was commenting on the ‘impressive finale’, and even Molly and Arthur hadn’t instantly recognised it had been their granddaughter’s accidental magic. When they did, they were smiling proudly.

“Well done my babies,” Ginny stood up to receive James and Albus, who had reached them first. They allowed her to hug them both, even though James groaned at being called a baby.

“Did you see what Lil did?” Albus asked breathlessly. “Will she be in trouble? I don’t think she did it on purpose.”

“Oh! That was Lily!” A look of understanding passed over James’ face and he shrugged. “It was cool.”

“She’s not in trouble, it was an accident. Just unfortunate timing,” Ginny muttered to reassure Albus as Lily came running over to them, throwing herself into Harry’s arms.

“I did it, Daddy! I was an angel.” Harry picked her up.

“Was that very exciting, being on stage?” he asked his daughter.

“Oh yes!” Lily’s eyes were shining.

“We all noticed how excited Lily was,” Ginny said fondly, looking around at her family who were gazing at Lily in amusement.

“You dropped your halo, Lily.” Miss Emerson appeared at Harry’s shoulder to reunite Lily with her halo. She smiled round at the family. “That certainly livened things up. I’ll put Lily on props next year.” She winked and left them to greet some other parents.