~ PART1~

A Sorceress Beginning

Chapter 1: My Wand Chose Me

I awoke to the rapping of knuckles on my door. I hid under the covers as my father poked his head in.

"Come on Ellie, get up! We've already started breakfast." He said with enthusiasm.

"I'm not going." I said from beneath my covers. He came in the door and sat on my bed.

"Ellie, you've been looking forward to this day all year. Why the sudden change of heart?" he asked. I pulled the covers down just enough to expose my eyes, and nose.

"What if I'm a squib?" I asked seriously. He laughed heartily, a frown appearing on my face. I didn't find it very funny.

"Ellie, dear, you are not a squib." He said with a smile, tapping my nose.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked sitting up fully out of bed.

"Because you were born into a family full of great witches and wizards. I promise that you are not a squib." He said giving me a hug. "Who told you that you were a squib?"

"Mark." I said simply. He kissed me on the top of my head.

"You get ready and head on downstairs. Mum's got a wonderful breakfast feast put out on the table."

"Is there sausage and eggs with crème?" I asked with delight.

"Of course there is! What kind of breakfast would it be without sausage and eggs?"

"And crème." I declared. He smiled at me.

"Exactly! Now get dressed." He said and went out my door. I could hear him yell 'Markus Henry Phillips!' up the stairs. I smiled with glee, because that meant Mark was getting in trouble and then he wouldn't be able to do something fun for the day. And today was a special day indeed.

I hurried to my closet and picked out a nice pair of jeans and a pink tank top. To go over it was a charcoal grey blazer with a pair of pink converse. Dad said we should dress like muggles so that, if we decided to one day leave the magic world, we would at least know how to look like one. Blending in, he called it. I hurriedly went downstairs and found Paul and Angela all sitting at the table. Mum looked over from the stove and smiled.

"Good morning Ellie, I'll bring your breakfast round in a moment." She said happily.

"Mum, remember she doesn't want to be called Ellie anymore. She wants to be called Eleanor, so she can sound more mature." Angela said smugly. Paul rolled his eyes slightly.

"Angie, that's enough." Mum said sternly as she sat a plate down in front of me. Sausage and eggs, with toast and crème on the side, just the way I liked it. Dad came in with Mark tailing behind him. Mark gave me a terrible look that said he wanted to pummel me. But I knew he really wouldn't; only in his dreams.

"Good morning children!" Dad said when he sat down.

"Good morning Father." We all replied. It had been the greeting to say when Dad finally sat down at the table. That also meant that we could start eating. As we began our breakfast, two owls came flying in through the window. One was beige colored on his stomach and he had a brown head and brown wings. The other, was midnight black all over her body.

"Athena!" I exclaimed. She handed her letters to Mum and then perched on my shoulder. I handed her a piece of apple from the table. Baltimore handed Dad the newspaper and sat on the owl perch. Athena nibbled at the apple.

"Why does she do that?" Paul asked. I looked at him.

"Do what?" I pulled out a small rodent and handed it to her, which she gladly gobbled up.

"Just, sit on your shoulder naturally."

"Why? You jealous?" I asked.

"Not in the least bit. It's just strange that she opened up to you so quickly. She used to only let Dad even get near her."

"Maybe Ellie has the owl touch." Mum said picking up another letter. Mum saw the rodent in Athena's mouth. "Ellie! Not at the table!" Mum scolded. I petted Athena's head and then she went and sat next to Baltimore.

"Ah! Mr. and Mrs. Weasly will meet us at Gringotts at exactly eleven o'clock today."

"Will Ginny be there?" I asked.

"Of course dear, they can't very well leave her at home." Mum said.

"Can't Bill or Charlie watch her?" Angela asked.

"They both went back to work, Angela. Get with the program." Mark retorted.

"That's and odd sort of phrase Mark," Dad commented but Mark seemed not to have heard him.

"I think we should spilt up into groups when we meet up with the Weasley's." Dad said. "Paul, you'll go with Percy to get the things you'll need for this year. Mark, I want you to go with Fred and George. Take Angela with you as well."

"What?" Mark and Angela exclaimed at the same time.

"We can't have a girl in our group, we'll be doing guy things." Mark protested.

"I made it clear that today you were to get your school things and do nothing else." Dad said sternly. Mark became silent.

"Whatever." Angela muttered.

"Ellie, we'll take you around to get all of your things today." Mum said.

"Can I take Athena to school?" I asked, trying to keep my enthusiasm to a minimum. Mum looked at Dad who peered over his copy of The Daily Prophet, the local wizard newspaper.

"I guess if you're really careful-" Mum started.

"Yes!" I shouted with joy. We ate the rest of our breakfast with chitter chatter.

"Alright everyone, let's get a move on!" Dad called from the living room. We all came bounding down the stairs in our thick black cloaks and lined up. Mum grabbed the pot from on top of the mantel, making sure that we all looked nice.

"So, who wants to go first?" Mum asked. Angela stuck her hand in the pot before Mark could grab a handful of green soot. Angie stepped into the fire place and gained composure. It made me and Mark giggle a bit. In a loud clear voce, Angela yelled 'Diagon Alley!' and shot the soot from her hand. She became engulfed in green flames and then disappeared. I grabbed a handful before anyone else, running to the empty fireplace. Dad gave me a wink and I yelled 'Diagon Alley!' instantly after I had released the soot, I was engulfed in the same green flames. I felt myself being sucked into a hole that was sparkly green. Different holes were all around me, different exits. I saw Angela get off at one and I followed her.

When I got out, I found myself covered in the soot. It hadn't been a graceful landing, unlike Angela who had small specks of soot in her hair and on her face. She daintily brushed them off as we exited the shop known as Flourish and Blotts, a book store, and walked over to the wizard bank. We waited on the steps to Gringotts when the rest of our family came out. Mark suddenly started shouting.

"Hagrid!" he exclaimed, waving madly. Angela gave him a disgusted look.

"Don't call the gamekeeper over here!" she hissed, but Mark ignored her. The large man came over, a small scrawny boy tailing closely behind him.

"Hey Hagrid!" Mark greeted.

" 'Ello Mark! Pleasant to see you here." Hagrid greeted him. "Yer' gettin' taller as ever!" Hagrid explained. Compared to me he was not only triple my size in height, he was at least for widths of me. I suddenly spied a boy behind him. Hagrid saw me peering to get a look at him.

"Oh, where're me manners? This is young Harry here." Hagrid boomed. "He'll be startin' school with yer sister Mark."

"This is Eleanor." Mark said. He pushed me forward a bit.

" 'Ello Eleanor." Hagrid said, holding out his hand. I shook his massive hand, which could easily have squished me. "Come on out Harry." Harry came out from behind Hagrid. He was as tall as I was, with untidy black hair that looked like he never combed it. His piercing green eyes showed through his glasses, which looked like they had been broken several times.

"Harry, this is Eleanor, and her family." Hagrid said happily. Harry held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you." He said formally, holding out his hand. I shook it greatly.

"Hi!" I said smiling at him.

"Well, we'd best be off. Lots to buy." Hagrid chuckled.

"Bye now." Harry said to me.

"Bye!" I called after them as they waded through the crowd towards all of the shops.

"Ella! Ella dear!" Mrs. Weasly called come out of the alley towards us. "Ella dear, my you need to get out more!" she scolded my mother. My mother simply smiled.

"Well, it is a little tricky what with all the Muggle neighbors."

"Come on Henry, let's get inside. I'm sure Eleanor's very anxious to be getting new school supplies." Mr. Weasly said, winking at me. I smiled as Dad put his arm around me.

"Oh you know our Ellie, practically begging to leave yesterday." He chuckled. I spied Ginny coming up to me. Her flame red hair matched the rest of her families unique style.

"Come on Eleanor, let's get going!" Mum called as I raced Ginny up the Wizard Bank steps.

Inside Gringotts, there were all sorts of things going on. Wizards and witches depositing and withdrawing money, and the goblins were helping them along with that. Goblins were the main care givers for the bank, mostly because they were renowned for keeping things locked up tight; more specifically treasure.

We hopped into one of the tram cars, and Mum and Dad told them which vault to take us to.

"Vault six hundred and twenty four." The goblin said aloud. Mum and Dad collected enough gold to get what they needed, being careful not to flounce how much money was in our account.

You see, the Weasly's were a simple family. Their mum made their clothes and their house wasn't as large. But they were a kind and loving family, and were always willing to help anyone.

My parents had met the family years ago, during a time of dark days. But they never liked to talk about those times, but from what my siblings had told me, and what I'd read in books, it wasn't at all pleasant.

"Alright kids!" Mr. Weasly said, gathering our attention. "How about Paul and Percy, you have your lists you may go and get your supplies."

"And why don't you take Angela as well? Paul you can help her get what she needs." Dad said.

"Alright Dad." Paul said, giving Angela a look. We all knew she fancied Percy quite a bit.

"Mark, Fred, George, you three can go get your supplies." Dad said.

"But no funny stuff!" Mr. Weasly added, seeing a look on their faces.

"And you're to get only what you need." Dad said firmly. He turned to me smiling. "That just leaves you, me and Mum." My smile widened.

"And we'll take Ron and Ginny to get Ron's things. Meet back here in two hours?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, we'll see you all back here then." And everyone left.

"What would you like to get first?" Mum asked.

"My wand!" I exclaimed with excitement. My dad chuckled.

"I could have guessed." Mum said.

"Then it's off to Ollivander's!" Dad stated and led the way.

As we neared the wand makers store, I noticed a family of white haired blonde people walking tall and all in black cloaks. They had an eerie presence about them, unnatural you might say. They were exiting the wand shop and their dad gave my Dad a curt nod but nothing more. They had a boy with them, fair skinned and platinum blonde hair. He looked to be about my age.

When we got inside, there were shelves upon shelves of small boxes full of wands. All different and unique, my dad had said. I heard the rattle of a ladder come around and I saw a wiry haired man climb down from it. His grey and white hair wisped back as he strode towards us.

"Well, I knew I'd be getting you at some point, Mrs. Phillips. I've had all of the Phillips family come through here at one point or another." Mr. Ollivander said with a smile. "Now, let's see then…" he then muttered a few words, prowling around the boxes on the shelves. He pulled one out, swept off the box top and showed me the wand that lay inside.

"A ten inch ebony wand, with a unicorn tail core." He said. I looked at the lovely blackened wood with a reddish tint. I held it up and waved it but instantly it was snatched from my hand. He put it back and grabbed a few more boxes.

"Try this. A fourteen inch rosewood with dragon heartstring core." I took the lovely sanded wand and held it, but it too was snatched from me. He pulled out a last one, looked at it closely then handed it to me.

"Twelve inch holly, with, quite curiously, a phoenix feather core." I picked up the dark brown wand and instantly golden sparks emitted from the end of it. There was a small applause around the shop, from my parents and Mr. Ollivander himself. I looked at them.

"What did I do?" I asked.

"Your wand has chosen you." My dad said excitedly. "Now, it's yours." He said proudly. A big grin appeared on my face.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed. I looked at my wand, caressing it almost. But, I didn't know that this wand would be the key to my undoing.