I sat on my window seat and stared out of the foggy glass. In the street below, rain pelted the cobbled roads and a group of muggle boys stood under the shelter of a bus stop, smoking cigarettes. My long black hair fell in heavy waves around my tiny waist, shifting as I leant forwards for a better view. One of the muggles looked up and saw me. He nudged one of his companions eagerly and gestured to the window where I was perched. Several more of them looked up and whistled appreciatively. I was disgusted. I glared down at them with icy blue eyes and leapt lightly from the cushioned ledge. With a heavy sigh, I threw myself backwards, landing on my bed with a soft thump. Bored, I stared up at the brackets fastened to the wall, and made the candles held in them flicker excitedly. Distantly, I heard my father call me,

'Iris!'I heaved my delicate frame from my bed and wandered idly to my bedroom door. It barely creaked as it swung open seconds before I reached it. Swiftly, I descended the staircase and stood, waiting, at the bottom.

'I have something for you...' a voice said quietly from the shadows. A figure emerged; a sallow skinned man, with a hooked nose and a pale face framed with long, greasy black hair. He was dressed in plain black robes and carrying an envelope of heavy parchment. His empty, black eyes held me for a brief moment before he handed me the letter.

The address, written in emerald ink, said:

Miss Iris Snape,

18 Spinner's End,

The Second Bedroom.

Severus Snape watched as I broke the Hogwarts seal and read the letter inside.

'Congratulations,' he said, without much emotion, before I'd finished reading, 'we shall visit Diagon Alley tomorrow to get what you need.' as I met his gaze, a rare smile curved his lips. As I smiled back at him, the candle-light highlighted my eyes - which I had been told were the colour of sapphires mixed with the ocean.

The next morning, I raced down the stairs, dressed in a set of deep purple witch's robes. Father stood patiently in the hall and held out his arm expectantly. With the smallest of sighs, I grasped his arm tightly and felt the sudden lurch as we disapparated. Within seconds, I saw a brightly coloured street bloom in front of me and bit back the threatening nausea. Eagerly, I consulted my list.

'Why don't you go and buy your wand, while I go and collect your potions ingredients?' father suggested coolly. With an enthusiastic smile,

I hurried over to an old building and open the door. A bell rang as I entered and an old man with grey hair appeared from behind a stack of shelves.

'Ah! Miss Snape is it? Right then! Hold out your wand-arm please!' more than a little shocked that he knew who I was, I obliged and allowed him to measure me from shoulder to fingers, wrist to elbow and shoulder to floor.

'Good, good, I have just the thing for you.'he chirped as he stuffed his tape measure into a nearby drawer. Surprised but curious I moved forwards as he pulled a long black box from the closest shelf. I gingerly lifted the wand from its nest of velvet as he proclaimed,

'Ash and Dragon-Heartstring, thirteen inches exactly!'

I gave a tentative swish and exclaimed as the wand leapt from my hand. Quickly snatching the wand he placed it on the counter. Three more wands, and a broken stool later he opened yet another box to reveal a delicate, black wand with spiralled handle and a straight point. He held out the wand to me. As I gripped the handle, warmth glowed beneath my fingertips. I waved it and a trail of silver sparks flowed from the tip.

'Marvellous! Oh, marvellous!' he cried, 'Willow, a protective wood, and Unicorn Hair core, a pure and powerful substance. This particular unicorn was a female; quite gentle too. Twelve and a half inches, this wand is perfectly balanced and feather-light, though surprisingly forceful.'

I paid him seven galleons and left, satisfied. Outside, as I twirled my new wand through the air, I spotted another young boy with untidy, black hair and round glasses. He was walking next to an impossibly huge man with a thick beard, tangled black hair and a flowery, pink umbrella. How strange. They headed off in the direction of Gringotts Bank; instead, I went to get a pewter cauldron, scales and a collapsible telescope for astronomy. A few minutes later at 'Flourish and Blotts', a wizard behind the counter peered at me,

'Hogwarts? Yes, yes, I'll get what you need.'

Clearly, other first-years had already bought their books. With my money bag lighter and my arms weighed down with the books piled into my cauldron, I started down the street. Then, with a sudden crash that sent books flying everywhere, I found myself stumbling backwards as a boy with a pale, pointed face charged into me.

'Watch where you're going!' he snarled, 'clumsy mudbl-' he broke off when he caught a glimpse of my face. I dusted myself off and bent to gather my books. He helped collect them and put them back into the cauldron. Then, he looked at me and a pink tinge appeared across his face,

'Sorry 'bout that, I... uh... I gotta go.' With that, he had disappeared into the crowd.

Being used to such reactions I shrugged as I wandered into 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions' to get a school uniform. A woman, presumably Madam Malkin, looked up as I walked in.

'Another one for Hogwarts, then?'

I nodded numbly, 'Well, I've got everything here, just get on that stool over there and I'll get you fitted.' A little while later, I came out with a bundle of robes folded neatly.

I waited on the edge of the cobbled street for my father to return with everything else I needed: protective dragon-hide gloves, a set of crystal phials, some fine black quills, three bottles of ink and some parchment. I greeted him with another gorgeous smile and piled it all into my cauldron. Then he held up a majestic owl, perched delicately in a large silver cage. This beautiful creature had feathers similar to that of a raven's. They were black with a green and purple sheen. Amongst the dazzling darkness were silvery white speckles.

Stroking the beautiful bird, I decided to name her Mystic.

I was about to grasp his arm again when I saw the boy with pale skin and pointed face again, he was staring at me with interest. I was used to attention like this, so why did it bother me so much this time? It was hard for me to pull my eyes away from his oceanic pair. Then he was joined by his parents and my father made an impatient noise that brought me back to earth. Irritated slightly, I took his arm and vanished along with him.

When we got home, I gathered my new belongings and hurried upstairs with them. I barely thought about retrieving my trunk when it hurtled out from under my bed. Intrigued by my power, I thought hard about packing everything. Then as I looked at individual items, they flew at me and folded themselves neatly into my trunk. Laughing happily, I double-checked that I had everything I needed before shutting it with a snap.

'You're getting good at that.' I spun around, I hadn't heard my father enter, but he had always been quiet. I grinned at him; tomorrow I would be off to Hogwarts!