Dear Diary,

I was always told to start with introductions so that's what I'll do. My name is Lotta-Grace Jones, I am eleven and I shall soon be attending Hogwarts School of wizardry and witchcraft. I was never sure if I'd get a place at Hogwarts as I've spent the last six years in and out of hospital, I'll spare you of the details right now. Although they never said it to my face I'm pretty sure that my parents doubted that I'd get a place and I know for a fact that my two sisters, Libby and Brittany, didn't think that I'd get in but Robbie did. Robbie is my amazing brother, he'll be starting his fifth year at Hogwarts when the term starts in a few days. He's the one who got me through the past few years. He's the one who bought me this diary as a good luck present. He bought me it last week when we went to diagon ally. We all went to diagon ally but we split up as soon as we got there. Robbie and I went one way and Mum went the other with Libby and Brittany. Libby and Brittany are your typical big sisters. They think I'm an annoying little squirt, a waste of space. You might have thought that because I'd spent a lot of time in hospital that they'd be nice to me but you'd be wrong, very wrong, if anything that made them hate me more as I took up so much of my parent's time. My sister needed their things for third year so they didn't want to wonder around getting all my stuff so Robbie said he'd take me around and Mum could go with Libby and Brittany so I was with just Robbie. The way I like it. Mum went to Flourish and Blots first while went to the cauldron shop opposite. According to my list I needed a Pewter cauldron, standard size two. That didn't mean a thing to me. All I could see as soon as I walked through the door was cauldrons, all metals, shapes and sizes. I had no idea which was the one that I was supposed to be getting. Robbie seemed to know though. He walked straight up to the back wall which was full of dull, grey cauldrons. Robbie carefully took down the second smallest sized cauldron (although it was still rather large),

"This is the one you want Lotta," he told me. I just nodded, I didn't have anything to say about that so I said nothing, Robbie had the money that Mum had put aside of my stuff with him, not me. He nodded back at me and took it to the till. I looked around to the crowded shop. What little room wasn't taken up with cauldrons was taken up by a person (only on ground level though) Lots of young witches and wizards scampered around, looking at the shiny gold cauldrons only to be told that they had to have one of the dull grey ones by their parents. I wove my way to the front of the shop, out of the way while I waited for Robbie. I leant against the door frame watching the crowd when a scruffy, mousy brown haired, tall girl carrying a green, scaly bag bumped into me, dropping her bag and scattering its contents across the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" the girl shouted,

"But it wa-" I began only to realise that the girl wasn't listening to me, she was picking up her stuff,

"That bag cost me loads!" she cried, "what do you have to say to that?" she turned to look directly at me,

"Umm, sorry," I mumbled. Just then Robbie appeared at my side from inside the shop,

"What have you done now Lotta?" he said lightly. Robbie peered closely at the girl, "are you Sophie Parkinson's little sister?" he inquired. The girl stood up,

"Yes, and who might you be?"

"Robbie Jones, yes I've heard all about you, Brooke isn't it?" Brooke scowled and turned back to me,

"So what are you going to do about my bag?" She exclaimed, I opened my mouth to reply but Robbie got in there first,

"Nothing. It's not damaged in the slightest. Now come on Lotta lets go to Wiseacre's." Robbie grabbed my wrist a pulled me away.

"Who was that?" I hissed as we hurried away,

"Brooke Parkinson, nasty piece of work if the rest of her family is anything to go by, I'd keep out of her way if I were you," I nodded, "Now let's go shopping." Robbie pulled open the door to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment.

"We can get you a telescope, a glass phials and a set of brass scales from here," Robbie announced. I gazed at the shelves of chats, globes and bottles. The way the shop was set put made it look like a witches cavern. I liked that. Robbie took down a tall blue bottle from the top self,

"Can you pass me a telescope please Lotta?" He asked. I ran over to a self on the far left of the shop. Standing on my tip toes, I grabbed one and then something caught my eye.

"What's that?" I asked Robbie, pointing a row of clear balls standing next to the telescopes,

"That's a remembrall, the smoke inside changes colour if you've forgotten something," I nodded,

"That's not very useful," I remarked,

"Why not?"

"Well, it just tells you that you've forgotten something it doesn't tell you want you've forgotten, just because you know you've forgotten something doesn't mean that you are going to remember it," it was Robbie's turn to nod now,

"Fair enough, now come on, let's get this stuff and then we'll go and get your robes." Madam Malkins was fairly empty compared at the cauldron shop and Wiseacres. When we entered the shop Madam Malkins,

"Hogwarts robes?" she asked, although I'm pretty sure that she already knew the answer. Robbie nodded,

"Yes please, for the both of us." Madam Malkins set about the two of us with a tape measure, making 'hmmm' noises as she went. Once she was finished she lead me into a changing room and told me to try on the cloths that she shoved at me. My robes were fine but Robbie's were a bit long,

"While my robes are being altered do you want to go to Ollivanders?"

"OK." I walked down the alley towards the wand shop, of all the things on my equipment list this was the one I most wanted. To my surprise there was nobody inside Olivanders except Olivander himself,

"Ah," he cried as I walked in, "A wand is it?" I nodded, there was no other reason to come into the shop unless you wanted a wand. Olivander took a box off the shelf behind him, "Here try this," He carefully took and long wooden wand out of the box, "fourteen inch, birch with a dragon heart core," I took the wand off him and gave it a wave, nothing happened for a moment and them the was a small explosion and several boxes flew off the shelves!

"I don't think that one was right," I said,

"Quite." Olivander turned around to take another box off a shelf but paused, he knelt down and picked up one of the wands I'd sent flying, "Maybe this will be better." I took the wand off him and from the moment I took the wand out of Olivander's hand I felt it's power run through me, "that one is made of Cypress and Unicorn hair, it's ten inches. Give it a wave!" I waved the wand and some of the boxes on the floor flew back onto the shelf,

"This one's perfect," I breathed as Robbie walked through the door,

"I see you've found your wand then," he said, I nodded and left him to pay. Next we went to Flourish and Blotts,

"What books do we need then," I asked. Robbie took a piece of paper out of his pocket,

"You need The Standard Book of Spells Grade One, A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and I need The Standard Book of Spells Grade Five and Defensive Magical Theory!" I nodded and began to search the book shelves. Robbie and I spent the next half an hour searching for all of the books we need after we bought the books we went outside.

"Is that everything?" I asked,

"Nearly," Robbie said with a smile. He lead me up the alley to Eeylops owl emporium and magical menagerie, "I thought you should have a pet," I ginned and leapt into his arms,

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I cried over and over again. Robbie smiled and then said,

"Well go pick one then!" We walked into the shop. The walls were lined with cages of owls, cats and toads and the room was filled with animal noises,

"Not a toad," I said, "They're too slimy so should I get an owl or a cat, Robbie?"

"Well I think Mum would prefer you to get an owl, I don't think she'd want a cat wandering around the place!"

"An owl it is." I looked carefully at all of the owls on the wall but none of them took my fancy but then I saw an owl with big eyes, "wow," I said,

"That's a brown owl," Robbie said, looking over my shoulder, "do you want that one?" I nodded,

"Yes please." Robbie took the cage off the wall and walked over to the till while I thought about what to call my owl,

"Stella," I said after a minute, "I'll call her Stella!" Stella is now sitting on top of my dresser in my room watching me write this. I'll have to go now as it's time for dinner but I'll write again soon.