The morning was cold. When Eloise was woken up she felt shivers down her back and, along her arms goosebumps had begun to form. Eloise frowned at her mother Nancy , who had entered her room as she begun to open the curtains. "Eloise you have to wake up now or you'll be late" Nancy said in a gentle but firm tone. "Please mum just 5 more minutes" Eloise had managed to groan out. " I gave you '5 minutes' half an hour ago! Now get up already" Nancy pulled off the quilt on Eloise's bed and then promptly left the room.
Eloise slowly got out of bed and changed out of her pajamas. Today she was meant to go shopping with her uncle for school supplies, of course these weren't the usual pens and pencils, instead she was buying wands, robes and magic books. Eloise couldn't help but let of a small laugh, she found it ridiculous. She still found it hard to believe that such a thing as magic existed. Eloise then brushed back her wavy black hair and tied it into 2 plaits. When her letter first arrived she thought it was an elaborate joke that her parents had pulled on her but apparently she was a witch(which she hoped didn't mean that she would become evil and start turning people into frogs). Her parents were just as surprised as her at the beginning but an apparent professor from Hogwarts, the school for witches and wizards, had come and told her parents all about the wizarding world. For her new school year she would have to go to special shops but luckily her uncle, Mark, was also a wizard. It was hard to take in that her own uncle had magical abilities. After this revelation it was revealed that her Auntie and cousin, Eliza were also witches. Although this explained why her cousin's 6th birthday party ended in flames.
Mark had suggested that he would take her shopping for her new school. She sighed, if a professor from Hogwarts came and her family was convinced that she was a witch, it had to be real or at least she hoped.

30 minutes later and Eloise was ready to leave. Mark was already in the living room waiting for her. He was a short man in his mid 30's and his long, unkempt brown hair was beginning to grey. Eloise had known him since she was a baby yet now he seemed like a different person. He held a long dark brown stick which had carvings along the bottom of it. 'Don't tell me that's supposed to be a wand'. Eloise had always thought that wands were meant to be short with a bright, yellow star at the broke her from her thoughts when he stood up to greet her. "Eloise! I haven't seen you in so long!" He enthusiastically told her while squeezing his arms around her into a suffocating but friendly hug. "Aren't you excited to go to Hogwarts? I remember when I first got my letter..." Eloise cut him off before he got the chance to tell his story. "Yes I'm really excited Mark, are we going to go shopping now?" She said in a rude tone. "Of course! You're going to be so surprised when we get there, I can't wait"

As they left the house Mark's smile never left his face. While they were walking Mark decided to continue his rambling from before but kept his voice low and quiet. "You know I never knew about magic until I was your age too. When my letter came a professor came to my house and explained everything to me about magic and Hogwarts and even all the deadly creatures that could kill you" Eloise decided to ignore the last part of that sentence. "So what exactly is Hogwarts?" She asked him. "Well it's a huge school, well more like a castle really, where you will learn all about spells, magical creatures and all kinds of other things" Mark replied.
"So what classes are there to take?". "Well there's so many it could take me the whole day to list them all! My favourites were always transfiguration's and charms but you look like you'd be good at anything!" Eloise frowned as she heard more words she didn't understand, she thought magic would be more simple than this. In the books she read magic was simply magicians casting elemental or healing spells, she didn't realize there were so many different types of magic.

Eloise was silent for a while thinking of the grand castle her uncle had described. She imagined the towering walls and the grand towers. She created the great hall in her mind and all the different corriders and rooms filled with all kinds of magical objects.
Once again Mark had to bring Eloise out of her daze. "Eloise you should really pay attention to where you're walking". Mark had stopped her before she was about to cross a busy road. "Sorry I'll pay more attention next time" Eloise said timidly. While she tended to be more confident around people she knew well, Eloise was still very shy, especially when she had done something wrong.

Once the cars had left the road the two of them crossed to the other side. While they were walking Eloise had seen a sign that read 'Charing Cross'. Eloise found it weird, she had been here hundreds of times so how could this be where she gets these "magic" school supplies from? Eloise left her thoughts unspoken, as she was busy looking for things that seemed out of the ordinary around the busy street. Mark had begun walking towards an old pub. The creaky sign outside the building read 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Eloise noticed that she had passed by this building many times but never properly looked at it. The building itself looked to be hundreds of years old but nobody had ever mentioned this place to her before. The pub looked out of place yet Eloise felt that it almost belonged there.

Following Mark she went through the pub's door, Eloise could only think why on Earth they were going into a pub? At first she questioned if this pub was secretly a witches shop but then decided that her uncle probably just wanted a drink. The atmosphere inside was warm and cosy. The room was scarcely decorated and the only notable things were the worn out bar and the old, scratched tables that had been huddled in a corner together. There were a few people siting at the tables, quite busy for a pub at midday. Mark strolled over to an older bald man behind the bar, they both smiled as if they were old friends and exchanged joyful greetings. Eloise stood quietly behind Mark and hoped there would be no introductions. Alas her wish was not granted. "Tom this is Eloise, my niece and Eloise, this is Tom the landlord of this place".
"Ah you must be here for your school things then" Tom replied. As he stuck his hand out, Eloise awkwardly stared at it for a few seconds too long before limply completing the handshake.
Mark then sat down at one of the dusty tables and beckoned Eloise to follow. He ordered tea for them both. "So this is a wizard pub then?" Eloise asked, Mark nodded his head while sipping on his tea. "Seems a little too...normal. I was expecting something more..."
"Magical?" Mark replied.
"Yes that".
"Well not all places are going to be as cool as a magic castle, but I promise the place we're going will not disappoint" Mark said with a grin on his face. As much as Eloise was confused and scared of what was happening to her, part of her was glad that it made Mark so happy to explain things to her and show her this new world. Eloise thought he looked like a kid in a sweet shop.

"So where are we going then?" She questioned.

"A place called Diagon alley"