She was the daughter of two well-to-do parents who did not lack for much, and so she did not lack for much. She went to the best local school, wore the best clothing, and had some of the best toys. But she was unhappy. She had only a few friends, but was generally uncomfortable around other children.
You see, Elaina Cartwright knew she was different from the children she went to school with. Her parents had just put it all down to the imagination of youngsters, but Elaina couldn't be convinced of that. She had woken to hear objects fall to the floor around her, seen tiny fires start during fits of anger, and had even watched plants wilt around her when she was particularly upset. So it came as no surprised to her that something strange happened once more on her eleventh birthday in early October.
A letter had appeared on the doorstep of her home. The envelope was made of a thick parchment, and her address had been written in what Elaina thought was very beautiful penmanship. She brought it to her parents, who looked at it with interest. They sat around the dining table to open it, thinking it some elegant party invitation, and were quite surprised by what they read.
Elaina's mother phoned her parents, asking if they had ever seen anything of its kind before. When they claimed no knowledge, her father did the same. It was a mystery to them. No one in their immediate family knew what the letter could mean, but the Cartwrights did the best they could to deal with the letter. When summer arrived, they went to her school and filled out the proper paperwork. They were baffled as to how they could get her the materials required – books, supplies. Most of it made no sense to them at all.
It wasn't until they were out on the streets of London with the letter in their hands that they finally ran into the answer… literally. Elaina bumped into a giant of a man, who muttered an apology through his great, bushy beard, and was about to move on until he saw the letter, nearly crumpled in Elaina's hands. "Well, now, do yeh be needin' some help, little miss?" he asked kindly, smiling down at her. "I'm on me way to run some errands righ' now, but I can take yeh where yeh need t' go. Hogwarts is a grand place. I'm sure yeh'll like it jus' fine."
Elaina beamed up at him, while her parents stood behind her, a hand on either shoulder. "That would be very gracious of you," said her mother. "Isn't that right, darling?"
"Yes, mum. I can't wait!" said the young girl, who seemed to have no problems with the man's size, although she could tell her parents were a trifle nervous.
The giant of a man kept smiling, holding out his hand. "Me name's Hagrid. Jus' follow me an' I'll take yeh to the place. Diagon Alley is what it's called."
Her parents each took turns shaking the proffered hand, while Elaina looked on at his umbrella with curious eyes. It was a battered and dirty pink, with a wooden tip that was worn and beaten, looking as if it had seen better days. The giant man was wielding it like a cane, or perhaps a sword. He took notice of her attention, and leaned over, smiling and giving her a wink with one beetle-black eye.
She giggled and grinned some more. "Diagon Alley. It sounds funny. Like a direction!" she said, nodding. "But only if you say it fast. Try it, mum!" she said, proud of her discovery. Her mother humored Elaina and did as she was asked, surprised when she found out that the young girl was right.
The man called Hagrid chuckled, a sound that seemed to rumble from deep within his tree-trunk of a torso. "Well, then, let's be off. Lots to do," he said, and gestured for the family to follow him. They obediently followed, with young Elaina giggling at how the crowds of people on the London streets parted to allow the big man through. Eventually they came to a, one that the young girl was sure she had seen before. Only this time, there was something different about it. A wooden sign with the words 'The Leaky Cauldron' written on it swung above an ancient-looking wooden doorway. The pub seemed to be squeezed in between a book shop and a record store, and was very out of place. It was here that Hagrid took them, ushering them inside.
"Hallo, Tom!" he said, waving to the man at the bar, who paused in his dusting of the counter to wave back.
"If yeh'll jus' follow me a bit more," said Hagrid. He led them through the pub, winding around tables and stopping occasionally to greet friends. They arrived at what appeared to be a dead end. A brick wall stood, as if daring them to try and go through. Hagrid muttered something, and turned to go back inside for a moment. He was gone less than a minute, and Elaina watched as he tapped his umbrella against the brick.
Then something amazing happened. As she watched, the bricks began to slide away, seeming to collapse in on each other, until there was an entryway that showed her the most wonderful sight of all. She knew, without a doubt, that they had reached the Diagon Alley that Hagrid had indicated they would need to go. Stacks of cauldrons, shops full of robes and animals and all sorts of things seemed to crowd the busy street. A giant building, gleaming white, stood at the end, barely visible.
"Excuse me, Mister Hagrid, but what's that?" she asked, pointing toward the large building.
"Ah, that's Gringotts, the wizard bank. And I s'pose yeh'll be needin' t' go there, what with yeh havin' Muggle money and all. Yeh'll be wantin' to exchange that for proper coin." He led them through the door, and Elaina looked wide-eyed at the small humanoid that stood in the doorway, bowing them through. Hagrid leaned over and whispered in her ear, the sound more like a rumble than anything. "That's there is a goblin. They run th' bank, and can be awful nasty. Wouldn't want t' get on their bad side."
He took them to a goblin with wire-rimmed glasses and a smart business suit, whose expression seemed almost bored as he looked them over. "They'll be wantin' to exchange Muggle money," said Hagrid, gesturing to the family.
Elaina's father stepped forward, nodding politely to both Hagrid and the goblin. "We, uh… we aren't sure how this is supposed to work," he said, a little nervously. While he was proud of his daughter, the entire idea was still rather new to the whole family, and it seemed they were being hit with so much at once that it was… overwhelming.
The goblin gave them a thin-lipped smile. "It is no problem at all. Gold coins are Galleons, silver are Sickles, and bronze are Knuts." He pulled out a chart that showed what the coins meant in Muggle currency, which had Elaina's father nodding slightly as he did some calculations. Every single pound he had on him went into the goblin's hands, and half of what her mother carried, as well. By the time their teller was through, she had a large bag full of Galleons, and two smaller bags, one with Sickles and one with Knuts.
Hagrid beamed down at them all. "That'll take of yeh, then. I'm runnin' a wee bit behind, so I'll jus' leave yeh here t' do the shoppin'." He waved and made his way out of the pearly white building, disappearing back down the street.
Elaina watched him go for as long as she could, before she finally looked down once more at the letter she'd been given. Now that she had the proper money and was in the appropriate location, it was time to go shopping for her school supplies. She looked up at her parents, smiling broadly at them, and they, relaxing, smiled back. This would be great fun.