Introduction
It'd been two weeks since me and my family had moved to London, all the way from New Zealand, along with our family friends and my best friends family, the Gatwards. We had already moved all our furniture and clothes into the house, which was a fairly-sized house, with shuttered windows and a red brick roof. We now lived at Number Twenty-three, Great Tower Street. The Gatwards lived right next door to us, in a house exactly like ours. In fact, every single house in our street looked the same. Me and Jai Gatward, my best friend, hadn't yet gone to the local school but next week was to be our first day there. I felt a bit nervous actually, since I had never moved schools before. Oh, I forgot to tell you who I am. My name is Darya Artyomovna Bran, but you can just call me Dasha. Everyone else does. My entire family is Russian or Russian-Greek but I was born in New Zealand and had, until recently, lived there my entire life, ten years of it. My birthday's on the 1st of April and I love to read as well as ballet. Sadly, we haven't been able to find any local ballet studios so far, so that's a bit hopeless, I suppose, especially since I've been doing ballet for SEVEN YEARS! and now I need to give up. Oh that's the bell, it's probably Jai, coming over to watch a movie or something. Me and Jai have been friends since Year 4 at Primary School. Anyway that's all on me and my friends. Bye!
Chapter 1: The Letter
It was a normal Thursday morning. Or it would've been so, apart from one minor detail. It was Dasha's birthday. She had woken up to find her parents sitting on the edge of her bed singing her happy birthday, with breakfast in bed. It was lovely, even though slightly out of tune. As she started to tuck into her salmon and eggs, her mother handed her something. "This came in the post for you dear. Come downstairs when you've changed into your good clothes. We're going shopping for school," she said smiling. Dasha groaned. "Not school Mum! There's still one more week!" Her mum smiled. "Read the letter first," and she went downstairs, closing the door behind her. Dasha sighed heavily and opened the letter. It was made of stiff parchment, not paper, and the address was written in neat, linked handwriting. Dasha carefully took out the slip of parchment inside and laid the envelope to the side.
"To Miss Darya Bran,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We begin the school year on the first of September. Below you shall find a list of all the necessary objects you shall need to buy. Send your answer back with this owl.
Yours Truly,
Headmistress McGonagall."
Dasha felt adrenaline pumping through her blood as she carried on reading. She had, of course, read the Harry Potter books and therefore knew quite a lot about Hogwarts, but she had never imagined that it was real, that she might be accepted there. She quickly dressed and still tightly clutching the letter, ran downstairs. "Mum! Dad! I'm going to Hogwarts, I'm going to Hogwarts! Yippeeee!" Mrs Bran smiled fondly. "I'm so happy for you Dasha! Now have the rest of your breakfast and then we're going to go to Diagon alley. I know exactly how to get there," she said bustling around the kitchen. Dasha glanced at her Dad. He was a little less excited to be going to Diagon Alley but he was still happy and proud that she had been accepted. Dasha quickly swallowed her orange juice and ate her crackers and cheese. Soon they were ready to go. Attached to the back of the letter was a list of her school supplies. "One cauldron and students may bring an owl, toad or cat if they desire to. Professor McGonagall has made it acceptable for first-years to try out for the Quidditch team of their house. Do we have enough money for all this stuff Mum?" asked Dasha as they left the house. "I think in our situation, using pounds will be fine,"said her dad, buttoning up his jacket. Dasha looked around impatiently. "Who are we waiting for anyway?" In answer to her question the next-door house's door opened and Jai ran out onto the street. In her hand she was holding a letter, just like Dasha. Dasha immediately saw the letter and the look of excitement on Jai's face. "You too? This is great! We can go to Hogwarts together! Are you coming with us to Diagon Alley?" Jai nodded as they got into the car. "I got mine ages ago but we wanted to wait until two months later." They continued talking in the car about Hogwarts until Mrs Bran suddenly stopped the car. She and Mr Bran had been using Google Maps to find the street they needed. She parked the car and opened the door. "Come on girls, let's get going!" Jai and Dasha leapt out of the car while Mr Bran followed less enthusiastically. After wandering up and down the street for at least half an hour, they finally found the inn 'The Three Witches' which was fairly new since the old one had been destroyed by the Death Eaters. Inside it was dim and slightly dusty, with people murmuring and talking in hushed voices. Not knowing anyone there was slightly awkward but Mr Bran plucked up the courage to ask the innkeeper to open the entrance to Diagon Alley and soon they were walking down the always bustling and packed street, past the 'Eeylops Owl Emporium', the ice-cream parlour (rebuilt of course) and finally stopped outside Flourish and Blotts. Here Mr Bran took charge. "Okay, Dasha and Jai, you girls have your lists?" They nodded. "Good. Your mother and I will ready our money and get the Transfiguration books, Defence Against The Dark Arts and Charms. You guys get the rest, and meet up here when you're finished." Dasha and Jai immediately hared off in search of the books. Jai walked in front of Dasha, due to the narrowness of the walkway and when Jai turned around to see the list while still moving forward, a small red-haired boy with huge freckles, suddenly appeared around the corner. Just as Jai turned to face the front, she collided into the boy, sending him sprawling backwards and knocking Dasha over in the process. Dasha rubbed her head as she groaned and slowly got up. Jai was peering at the boy in concern. "Are...are you alright? I'm so sorry, it was all my fault." The redhead shook his head like a dog trying to shake water from its ears. He looked at the girls and they were surprised to see him grinning. "Not a' all. I'm fine. Me name's Patrick, an' what might yours be?" He spoke with a strong Irish accent and his hair stood up like an electrocuted hedgehog. Jai stretched out her hand. "I'm Jai and this is Dasha." They all shook hands. "Do you know where the Potions books are? We're not really familiar with this," asked Dasha, showing Patrick the list. Patrick grinned even wider. "You've come to the right feller. This way!" he said, leading them on. Dasha smirked inwardly as she thought about the way Patrick had looked at Jai. She could imagine them in the future; but now wasn't the time for daydreaming. Jai had already taken the books she needed and was waiting for her impatiently. She quickly took them, all the time watching Jai and Patrick. As they started walking back to their parents, leaving him behind, Patrick suddenly ran up to them and stopped them. "Hey, guys, do you wanna be friends at Hogwarts? Well, whaddaya say?" he asked, glancing back and forth between them. Dasha smiled and answered before Jai could. "Of course, I thought we already were friends." Patrick smiled. "Ok. Good. Well, see you at the Express! Bye!" he said running further into the shop. Dasha smiled and said nothing, walking on in front of Jai, who for some strange reason, was blushing slightly.
Once everything had been paid for and they were all outside, Mrs Bran took the girls to Madam Malkin's while Mr Bran went off on some secret shopping mission. When Dasha and Jai asked him where he was going, he simply smiled mysteriously and walked away.
As they entered the Madam Malkin's shop, Dasha looked around her in wonder. From the outside, it appeared to be a small, if cosy and organised, looking building but inside, it was much larger, with at least three levels, all stacked with fabrics and robes of many sizes and colours, not to mention styles too. At first the shop appeared to be empty but almost straight after they entered, a young witch, wearing forest green robes, stepped up to them. "Welcome to Madam Malkins. We have school robes and work robes and dress robes for all. What will you be buying today, ma'am?" she inquired unsmilingly.
After writing down their measurements into a small notebook, which was floating beside her head, the witch stood them onto two separate raised platforms, the size of a pouffe, and flicked her wand. Black robes flew down into her arms and folded themselves. As the witch began her work, Dasha glanced to her right. At least one metre away from her stood a boy, who before had been hidden by a stack of robes and boxes. His black hair was ruffled artistically and his tanned skin was smooth and acne-free. Dasha didn't know what to think of him but until she spoke to him, she wouldn't judge him. She looked over at Jai and raised her eyebrows. Jai leaned forward slightly and Dasha saw her eyes narrow. Jai straightened and shook her head. Dasha turned away and paid the boy no more heed.
Outside the girls were met by Mr Bran, who had returned with a large parcel, which was rather odd and bulky in some places. He handed Dasha the parcel and watched as she eagerly unwrapped it. Inside, sitting on it's perch, was a beautiful grey owl. Dasha grinned happily. She ran up to hug her Dad. "Thanks Dad, it's beautiful. Is it a she?" He nodded. Dasha put her hand out to the owl and watched her as she hopped onto her arm. "What should I name it, Jai?" she asked, looking at her. Jai thought for a moment. "How about Greywing?" Dasha high fived Jai. "Brilliant! Mum, what's the last thing on our list?" Mrs Bran looked at the parchment. "Just your wands left now. Let's go shall we? Jai, Helen told me you had some money which you wanted to use to buy a pet?" Jai nodded. "Yeah, but I'll do that later I think." Dasha and Jai took off after Mr and Mrs Bran, with Greywing perched on Dasha's arm.
