Harry was independent. He had to be, considering how little attention he received from his aunt and uncle, who doted on their biological son, Dudley, way too much to even spare a glance at Harry. However, he didn't mind. He'd much rather receive no attention than have to deal with yelling and abuse.

So when he got the letter from a magical school that seemed interested in him, he wasted no time in sending one back, making sure to give it to the owl that had obviously been ordered to wait patiently by him. Luckily for Harry, Petunia and Vernon had been out with Dudley at the nearby ice cream parlor, making all this quite easy for him.

Of course Harry had been skeptical of the letter at first, deeming it a farce, but a second look at the owl showed him that this school was quite genuine. Not to mention the spell that had been placed on the letter, making it so that an act of magic had been performed right in front of Harry. It seemed as if the Headmaster, who was supposedly called Dumbledore, had expected for Harry to be doubtful.

Another thing Dumbledore must have expected was for Harry to have experienced financial conflicts. So, tucked into the envelope neatly, was another packet filled to the brim with strange coins with even stranger engravings.

Upon closer investigation, Harry discovered yet another packet containing a map. On this map were places Harry never noticed before, and he highly suspected that these were areas only magical beings could spot.

Harry knew his aunt and uncle, along with their son, would be arriving back at the house fairly soon, so he decided to depart tomorrow. For now, he'd think up some excuses that would explain why he had to leave, and where he would be going. While Aunt Petunia might not care much for Harry's welfare, she searched for the smallest things she could use to scold him. Rarely would she find reasons to put him down, but she was persistent, and that was the only redeemable quality she held.

~oOo~

The next day, Harry woke bright and early, making sure to catch his aunt and uncle at their most dazed moments- when they were incredibly tired. He dressed, grabbed the envelope from Hogwarts (the name of the magical school), and walked to his relatives' bedroom, feeling only a little bit apprehensive.

The door creaked open under Harry's light touch, revealing his aunt and uncle cuddled up together, making bile rise in Harry's throat. It was such an unappealing image. He forced his disgust down.

"Aunt Petunia? Uncle Vernon?"

The couple stirred, but did not fully awaken. Harry caught them in this moment.

"Do you mind me heading out? I'll be back in about five hours at most."

It took a few seconds for his aunt to respond with, "Whatever."

Harry smiled triumphantly before leaving the house in a hurry, knowing it'd take him a while to figure out how to work his way around.

~oOo~

Harry was smart. If he weren't, he wouldn't have been able to figure out how to get into Diagon Alley. It had taken him a while as Dumbledore hadn't been reasonable enough as to to giving Harry some directions, but now that he was in, he didn't dwell on any pent up frustration. He would collect the things he needed, browse around the shops for some fun, and then head back to his relatives' abode as quickly as he possibly could.

The first stop was the wand shop. Sure, Harry could have gone anywhere else, but he was most interesting in the prospect of a wand. Would it be like the ones he saw in those cheesy, yet intriguing movies his cousin liked to watch? His childish inquisitiveness knew no bounds as it explored all possibilities.

The shop, owned by a man called Ollivander, as the name liked to boast, was a small room with thousands of long boxes perched precariously atop one another, making Harry feel a bit nervous. If one were to topple down, would that trigger many more? He backed away slightly, not wanting to initiate a domino effect of sorts.

Suddenly, a man with a wild mane of frizzy white hair and shocking silver eyes popped into Harry's view, making him jump a foot into the air. One of the boxes trembled, giving Harry a heart attack on top of the one he had already experienced due to the man's random appearance.

"My apologies," the old man said. "I did not mean to frighten you, young man."

Harry grinned nervously. "It's fine... Are you Ollivander?"

"The one and only. And who are you, if I may ask," the elder replied, staring at Harry with a curious look in his eyes.

"Harry Potter. I'm heading into... erm Hogwarts within a few weeks, and I need a wand..."

Ollivander grinned. "Potter? I've never heard of that surname, so you must be muggleborn. Let's get right into it, you look like you'll be a difficult customer... One of my favorites, if I do say so myself."

Harry, unnerved, nodded obediently. It seemed the easiest thing to do in the presence of this odd man.

An hour later, Harry was feeling incredibly jumpy while Ollivander was looking very, very excited.

"I was correct in my assumptions. You're the most complicated customer I've had for a while!"

"I'm sorry," Harry said, although he knew that his being complicated was a delight for Ollivander, who seemed to truly enjoy challenges, something Harry could not fathom.

"No, no, don't apologize. This is absolutely entertaining to me. Hmm, why not this one? I've tested this on many, and maybe you'll be the one to claim it. It's made of holly, the core is comprised of a phoenix feather, and it's nice and supple. 11 inches; not long, not short. And like mentioned, incredibly picky."

Harry hesitantly took the wand, expecting for something to go wrong, but instead, an exhilarating, freeing feeling rushed through him, and his arm grew alight with a pleasant tingling sensation. The wand emitted a bright blue glow and beautiful, vivid fireworks rushed out from the tip, cloaking the shop with vibrant, wonderful colors. Harry, awed, stared up at the dancing lights, unable to hold back his fascination.

Magic was beautiful.

Ollivander clapped. "Ah! I love the feeling of matching a tough customer up with a wand. It's so gratifying."

Soon, the show was over and the shop was back to its normal state, but Harry could not get over the wonderful feeling of magic coursing through his veins. He itched to experience the feeling once more, but instead, he handed the shopowner the 7 coins (which Harry learned were galleons) necessary for the wand and headed out, still in a daze.

After retrieving all his other supplies without much excitement and breezily, Harry returned back at his relatives' house, where his aunt and uncle were waiting, prepared to chew him out.

Harry endured the harsh words flung at him peacefully. He still couldn't get over the feeling of letting his magic go.

It was amazing.

~oOo~

After the verbal abuse, Harry sat his aunt and uncle down, then proceeding to telling them of all the current events. At first, they were very reluctant to believe him, but after he showed them the letter, his wand, and other magical items, they were forced to admit that there were such things as wizards, and that Harry would be leaving them for a magical school in the fall.

They took it well, considering all things, even going as far as agreeing to take him directly to the train station. His Uncle Vernon told him rudely that were was no such thing as a Platform 9 3/4, but Harry was adamant in searching for it himself.

He knew that if there were such things as wizards, spells, and magic, there had to be a Platform 9 3/4, and he couldn't wait to find it himself.