She smiled at a man sitting at the kitchen table, eating eggs, and newspaper in hand.
"Hey dad.. Can we please go to Diagon Alley today? I have the list upstairs, and i really need to study those books! it'll be my first year, and I want to know some things before I get to Hogwarts... Gotta impress those guys!" Mina sat down beside her father and devoured the food on her own plate, adding "Great breakfast.." between bites of eggs.
Her father turned to face her. He was a tall man, with dark brown hair, a clean face, and dark green eyes. he smiled at her slightly.
"Mina.. -" He was about to say something, but sighed instead, tilting his head down and looking at the newspaper.
"Go get your list... and get dressed, hurry now.." He got up and carried the plates to the sink, filled it with soap and water and let it soak. When he turned around, Mina had already run up the stairs to get ready.
"This'll be great!" Mina told herself as she slipped a long sleeved, black shirt, half way down the sleeve the color changed to blood red, darker than crimson fire, followed by a pair of her favorite jeans. She grabbed the list off of her desk which had the names of the books she needed and an adidas jacket off of her computer chair. As quickly as she could, skipping a few steps and almost tripping on her untied shoelaces, Mina raced down the stairs to meet her father in the car.
On the way to Diagon Alley, Mina read the list of things she'd need out loud so her dad would know what they were looking for.
"Okay dad, for first years..
Three sets of plain black work robes... Black? I can live with that..
One plain pointed black hat for day wear
One pair of protective gloves, dragon hide or similar
One pair of protective gloves, dragon hide or similar
One black winter coat with silver fastenings
and it says her that 'all pupils' clothes should carry name tags' Okay, that is way over-rated..
Let's see what else I need..
Set Books
All students should have a copy of each of the following: The standard book of spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A history of magic by bathilda bagshot
Magical theory by Adalbert Waffling
A begginers' guide to transfiguration by Emeric Switch
Magical drafts and potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic beasts and where to find them by Newt Scamander
The dark forces: A guide to self-protection by Quentin Trimble
"Y'know dad, I think I should get a few advanced books too!"
Other Equipment
1 Wand
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials "Crystal, deffinately!"
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl, cat, or toad."Mina looked up from the peace of parchment and whined in a demeaning way. Her father looked away from the road for a moment and at mina. "What's wrong?"
She looked at him pleadingly. "They say I can't bring a broom to school... Well, if I need one you can get it for me, right?"
"I guess.."Her father went back to concentrating on the road. The sun was so bright that a lot of the drivers around them were wearing sunglasses so that they wouldn't go blind while looking at the road ahead.
A few moments later, they were at the leaky cauldron, which only Witches and Wizards could see. They entered the old building slowly, so nobody would find it strange that a man and his daughter were walking into a wall.
Mina paused for a moment to take in the sight of the Leaky Cauldron. it wasn't much to look at, the building was old and looked as if it was about to collapse, but to someone like Mina, who'd never been inside a wizarding building, it was amazing.
They passed through the Leaky Cauldron and entered Diagon Alley from the back.
There were stores everywhere, and witches and wizards filled the streets. it looked like an alley from some sort of sci-fi movie, a dusty, crowded space with a lot of strange-looking people. Mina's father lead her to Gringotts, a wizard bank where all the wizards and witches in the area kept their money for safe-keeping.Mr. Sailure told Mina to wait there while he went down into the bank vaults to get a bunch of money that he'd been sacing over the past few months. Mina took this opportunity to look around Gringotts. it was a huge, snowy-white building that towered over the other shops. She noticed that there were words engraved upon a door, and she read them to herself quietly;
Enter, stranger, but take heed
of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take but do not earn,
Must pay most dearlyin their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Mina turned around after reading this, and bumped into a young girl, no older than herself.