 Serre derivative

The Serre derivative sends a level-one weight-$k$ modular form to weight $k+2$. Differentiating $f(-1/z)=z^{k}f(z)$ produces the extra term $k{z}^{k+1}f/(2\pi i)$; the anomalous transformation of the Eisenstein series of weight two cancels it. Translation invariance and the Fourier expansion of a modular form verify the remaining holomorphy conditions. For $k>0$, its constant coefficient is $-k{a}_0(f)/12$, so it is a cusp form exactly when $f$ is.