"The owls are coming, the owls are coming!" Isabel Zabini ran outside of her house, her black hair waving in the wind as she pointed towards the two tawny owls flying towards Godric's Hollow. Her good friend, Katrina Wood rushed outside to greet the owls too. Isabel and Katrina were both eleven years old, and had always dreamt of going to Hogwarts. Although the two girls' parents did not get along very well, their children were the best of friends. Almost simultaneously, Isabel and Katrina grabbed an envelope from an owl's talon. Isabel was the first to open hers, as she greedily tore open the paper, accidentally tearing the actual letter. Katrina neatly ripped the edges, and read the inside letter quickly.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall

Dear Miss Wood,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Susan Bones

Deputy Headmistress

The two girls grinned widely as they read through the note and supply list, and agreed to go to Diagon Alley together that very day (if their parents allowed them). After getting their parent's approval, the two families went to Diagon Alley by Floo Powder. Katrina didn't mind the travel, she had done it many times, but the Zabinis were less than comfortable. "It's so dirty, Katrina! Look, even Willy's coughing," Isabel groaned, pointing to her house elf.

"You're just not used to it, that's all," Katrina replied, brushing dust off her long blond hair. "Come on; let's go to Flourish and Blotts."

"Wait," Isabel stopped her friend, and turned to her father. "Dad?"

Blaise Zabini looked down at his daughter after gazing at the latest racing broom. "Hmm?"

"Can Katrina and I go shopping alone? And can I have my Gringotts Key?" Isabel asked.

"Here. Take Willy with you, he can hold your purchases. Have fun," Mr. Zabini pushed Willy towards his daughter. Katrina grimaced. She did not like Izzy's father's cruelty to house elves. "To Gringotts?" Izzy asked.

"To Gringotts," Katrina replied.

After getting their money, the two girls walked down Diagon Alley, and first went to Madam Malkin's shop after Isabel convinced Katrina not to go to Flourish and Blotts first. When they entered, they saw two boys about their age on stools, with assistants sticking pins into the hems of the robes. One boy was tall, with green-blue eyes and light brown hair, and the other had darker brown hair, was shorter, and had striking light blue eyes. The second boy seemed rather mischievous, from the suspicious grin on his face. The taller one seemed to know also, and frequently watched his back. Madam Malkin quickly ushered in Isabel and Katrina, set the girls onto stools, and began measuring them. "Hi," the mischievous-looking boy said to Isabel, "I'm Danny Finnigan, and this is Alec. We're brothers." Isabel thought she heard Alec say "Unfortunately," but decided to ignore his comment.

"I'm Isabel Zambini, and this is Katrina Wood."

"Wait…" Danny paused for a moment. "Oliver Wood's the starting Keeper for that Quidditch team… are you related?"

"Yes, he's my dad. Will this be your first year of Hogwarts, too?" Katrina asked.

"Yeah, it's really exciting. Danny wants to be in Slytherin, crazy, isn't it? He says that green looks good on him and that it will make the girls think he's hot. Nice reason to want to be in a house," Alec added sarcastically, "Personally, I want to be in Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad either,"

"Come on, Slytherin's the coolest!" Izzy argued back.

"No way. My dad and mom were both in Gryffindor. That house is the best," Katrina stated.

"Let's stop or else we'll become enemies before the school year even starts," Danny smiled as he hit his brother, making the assistant who was hemming Alec's robe accidentally stick a pin in Alec's arm. The boy yelped as it dug into his skin.

Isabel had a plan. "How about we make a pact to be friends, no matter what house we get into, okay?"

After the four new friends paid for their robes, Isabel sent Willy back to her parents. Alec, Danny, Isabel and Katrina bought their pewter cauldrons, crystal phials, scales, and each a telescope for their Potions and Astronomy classes. Isabel enjoyed the Finnigans' company; Danny was very funny, and Alec was friendly to both of the girls, even though he was not so courteous to his brother. Finally, much to Katrina's delight, they stopped at Flourish and Blotts. Danny yawned jokingly as he pretended to pore over his new spell books as Katrina decided to buy much more books than necessary, half of the extra ones about Quidditch. Alec shook his head. His friend had definitely inherited her father's love for the sport.

"We need to get pets!" Danny cried as he helped Katrina carry all of her books out of the book store. "And wands." Alec added, and brought four carts, putting his cauldron and other items on top of it. Isabel walked over to the shop across the street which held owls, cats, toads, and many other creatures. Alec looked at many owls, before deciding that he wanted a brown one that was rather quiet. He named his new pet Topaz, as Katrina named her new snowy owl Pearl. Isabel wanted an owl too, and chose one black as night, which she called Spero. As the three left the shop, they saw Danny waiting for them with an orange cat cradled in his arms called Chester. The little cat clawed at the air as his new master put him in a cage. "Now," he said as he struggled with Chester, "Wands."

Ollivander sat in the back room of his shop, fiddling with the handles of two cherry wands when he sensed a strange feeling in the air. Yes, something was going to be very interesting about the four customers in his shop, yes. Something very interesting. "Curious…" the old shopkeeper muttered as he went towards the entrance to his shop.

Danny gasped as he saw Ollivander appear all of a sudden, and quickly stepped forward. "Daniel Finnigan, eh? It seems just like yesterday your father came in here to get his very first wand. Oak, unicorn hair, eleven inches. Quite temperamental. Let me see, what wand to get you?"

Ollivander took out a box and held out a wand to his customer. "Pine, dragon heartstring, ten inches. Brittle, I must say," he said as Danny waved it towards a lamp, instantly shattering it. "Perhaps too brittle," the wand maker muttered as he got another wand. "Blackwood, phoenix feather, 10 ¼ inches. Light." The boy knocked over Ollivander's desk with his new wand. After two more tries, Ollivander gave Danny another wand. "Oak, dragon heartstring, 9 ¾ inches. It has quite a long handle." Danny felt a warming sensation in his hand, and nodded to Ollivander. After his new wand was packaged, Danny sat down next to Isabel.

Alec was next. Unlike Ollivander's talkativeness with Danny, the shopkeeper was strangely silent. He gave Danny's twin brother a wand, saying, "Oak, unicorn hair, 11 ½ inches." The wand immediately flew out of Alec's hand. "Curious," Ollivander repeated, and shakily handed the boy a new wand. "Cherry, phoenix feather, 9 ½ inches." The cherry wand glowed brightly, sending red sparks at its point. Alec yelled and dropped the wand, clutching his burnt hand. Ollivander quickly healed the boy and gave him his wand, and pondered over many things.

Katrina stepped towards the wand maker's desk. "Miss Wood, here is your wand," Ollivander bowed slightly as he presented Katrina's wand. He swallowed quickly, and said, "Cherry, phoenix feather… 10 ½ inches." Alec looked down at his wand curiously as Katrina's wand sent out red sparks, and glowed as bright as his wand had. Katrina frowned as her hand turned extremely cold, and gasped when she saw that her hand was frozen in ice; stuck to her wand. "Mr. Ollivander, sir…" "Oh, no problem, my dear." Ollivander waved his wand and the girl's hand felt much better. "It was quite easy to match a wand with you. You see, when a wand is a perfect match to its new owner, it tends to… overreact. That explains your injuries Mr. Finnigan, and Miss Wood."

Isabel saw from Katrina's face that she was very pleased that her wand was a "perfect match," while Alec looked skeptically at the wand maker. Excited to get a wand of her own, Isabel stood up. "Miss Zambini, your turn is next. Redwood, unicorn hair, eight inches. I made this one two days ago," Ollivander said and cringed as a window was destroyed by Izzy's wand. The shopkeeper tried six more times, each wand destroying his shop more, until he found the one for Isabel. "Pine, unicorn hair, eleven inches." Isabel felt her wand warm with pleasure, and gave it back to the wand maker. "Thank you, sir," she said as he handed her a box with the pine wand inside. "Now remember, magic can be dangerous, Mr. Alec Finnigan. There are wizards who have been consumed by Dark Magic and they are very skilled at it. Someday, if you hesitate to fight back, something that you love will be lost." Alec nodded, although he was puzzled, almost scared, about Ollivander's strange advice. He left the shop quickly with his new friends following.

"That was creepy," Danny said as he closed the door. "Slightly," Katrina replied, looking at Alec curiously. "Oh well," Isabel interjected, annoyed at her friends seriousness, "It's almost dark! Time flew, didn't it?"

"We better get home soon. It was nice meeting you Izzy, Katrina. See you at the train!" Alec smiled as he waved goodbye, and the twins turned away. Isabel sighed. "We should leave too. Come on, let's go."

The two girls left for their parents whom they found arguing with each other with Willy in the middle covering his large ears and moaning. As Isabel and Katrina stepped towards them, both the Woods and the Zambinis stopped immediately. They went back home by Floo powder once more, and landed in the Woods' chimney. "See you later, Iz," Katrina said as her neighbor went back home. "We're going to Hogwarts in three days!" Isabel replied excitedly, and grinned as she imagined the great times she would have at the magical school.

At the Finnigan's house, Alec read his very old book of wand lore. The study had always fascinated him, yet he had never heard of "perfect matches" of wands to people. And frankly, Alec did not trust Ollivander very much. After going through his book twice, the boy could not find any reference to what Ollivander described, yet found a chapter that told of wizards' and witches' hands suffering strange curses when they received a wand. Alec quickly turned to the chapter, and finally was satisfied. During the occurrence that a magical being (human) receives pain from a wand, usually burning of the hand, it is assumed that the wand has belonged to a former master, usually one of great power. The attachment to the old owner is so great, the wand releases large amounts of energy, often harming the holder, and then allows itself to be the wand of a new owner. Occurrences such as this are extremely rare, and even the wisest witches and wizards do not fully understand this.

Alec set down the old book, sighing. His wand used to be in the possession of a great wizard or witch, he knew that for sure. Yet why would Ollivander lie to Katrina and him? Surely it wouldn't hurt to tell them the truth. Alec stared at his wand curiously. Who had it belonged to? Why was he the one who deserved to carry it? Many questions filled the boy's head, giving him a terrible headache. Tired from the late hour, Alec went to his bed, and finally fell asleep.