James Potter was probably one of the luckiest boys in the world. He had loving, caring parents, lived in a beautiful house in an estate in London and had plenty of money. However, there was just one peculiar thing about the Potters. You see, they were not your average family. They were wizards. Yes, wizards. James had just received a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry saying he had been accepted and a list of the books and various objects he needed in order to attend. James was very excited, he would be starting school the next day and he was going to Diagon Alley today to pick up his supplies.
'James.' His mother was calling him down to breakfast. 'Come and get your breakfast dear, we've a long day of shopping ahead of us!' James rushed down the stairs, jumping the final step and leaped into the kitchen. 'Morning mum, wheres dad?' He sat down at the old wooden table. 'Morning dear, you sit down and eat that breakfast'. She seemed to be avoiding the question. 'Where's dad?', he repeated. 'Your father had to leave for work early today'. 'Why?' 'Ministry business.' She wanted to play the hard way did she, James thought to himself. James' father worked at the Ministry of Magic. He was an aurer. That's a dark wizard catcher. 'What ministry business? Is he going to catch a bad wizard, mum, is he? Why didn't he wait for me? I told him I wanted to go next time!' 'Now now James, you know your too young to be out catching wizards. You can't even do proper magic yet! Now go and get your muggle clothes, we're going through the town since we're out of floo powder.' James sulked out of the kitchen and up to his room.
As he rummaged for his muggle clothes (muggles are non-magical folk) he saw something strange from the corner of his eye. He ran over to the window, flung it open and stuck his head out. He could swear he had just seen a man disappear into thin air! And only wizards could do that! Its was called apparating, though you had to be of age to do it. James was ecstatic to think that maybe there were other wizards living in this muggle estate. He grabbed an ugly looking wool jumber and a pair of jeans, hastily threw them on and ran down the stairs to where his mother was waiting for him. 'Mum, MUM! I just saw a wizard! Another wizard living HERE!' She gave him a doubtful, tired look. 'Are you sure it's not just your imagination running off again James? I mean last time...' She trailed off, the last time James had sworn he had seen a wizard, a muggle ended up getting his memory modified and spent a month in Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. 'No mum, I promise this time it's for real!' 'Well it doesn't matter anyway James, you stay away from them.' She doesn't believe me, James told himself. I will have to prove it to her now, she'll be sorry she ever doubted me. James was already thinking up a cunning plan when they left the house.
They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron in about fifteen minutes, by which time James knew exactly what he was going to do to prove to his mum there really was a wizard in their estate. The Leaky Cauldron was a shabby looking pub managed by a man named Tom. Tom was quite young as he had just taken over running the place from who father, who passed away about a month ago. His father had been quite unattractive and had had bad teeth. It looked like Tom junior was heading the same way. The pub was small and grubby so muggles would be drawn away from it. It was also the passage way to Diagon Alley, unless of course you used floo powder. As they passed through the Leaky Cauldron, James looked out for any signs of the wizard he had seen, but saw no one that looked familiar, except Tom, who gave his same toothy grin. They were out the back door of the old pub in seconds. Mrs Potter pulled out her wand and tapped the old brick wall in the exact places she knew would open the archway to Diagon Alley, so they could get on with their shopping. 'Three up, two across', she muttered to herself. A giant archway opened as bricks melted away from the wall. Once they had stepped inside, it disapeared and the wall was back in place within a nano-second.
The sight was amazing. James had only ever been here once in his life before, and he could barely remember it. All he could remember was the never-ending ride to his parents vault at Gringotts Wizard Bank. It had been an exciting adventure as the place is run by goblins! That would be where they were going first of course, so they could collect some money from their vault. James' mum, Sylvia, pointed James towards a big snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. There were two goblins wearing a scarlet and gold uniform, one either side of the burnished bronze doors. The goblins were about a head shorter than James, they had (swarthy?) , clever faces and very long figers and feet and the goblin on the right had a pointed grey beard. The goblins bowed them through the bronze doors, where another set of well-furnished doors were waiting, this time silver. And of course, two more goblins either side of these doors. James could imagine a set of gold doors next, when he noticed a message engraved in the silver:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
The goblins once again bowed them through the doors, and James was surprised to see a big marble hall, where at least a hundred goblins sat on high stools, tending to witches and wizards who seeked to withdraw money. He had been expecting a pair of gold doors along with their goblins and maybe another warning message about stealing. James had heard rumors about the high security vaults being guarded by dragons, but of course no one knew for sure, or maybe they did and just weren't telling. Sylvia hurried up to a free goblin before someone else came along and James came excitedly behind. He couldn't wait for the journey to their vault. He heard his mum ask the goblin for a withdrawl (spelling? ) and heard the goblin reply with an eery tone 'Do you have your key ?' Sylvia put a hand in one of the inside pockets of her jacket and pulled out a tiny, silver key. 'That seems to be in order', the goblin peered at the tiny key and the creases in his forehead deepend. 'Steelknob!' Another Goblin appeared at the old ones side. 'Vault 622', the old goblin ordered the younger, uglier one.
Steelknob led them through one of the doors leading off the hall. James found himself in a narrow stone passage-way, lit with flaming torches. Steelknob whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the small passage-way on the train tracks James now noticed. The cart was rather little and James doubted they would all fit in, but somehow they managed it. As soon as they were in, the cart set off. Winding around and around, James tried to remember all the turns and swerves, but it was impossible. He could see his mum begin to look a bit green and was relieved to feel the cart slow down and the rushing in his ears stop. The cart eventually pulled to a stop beside a small door in the passage wall. The goblin pointed his long index finger and ran an even longer nail down the middle of the door. James could hear various locks and bolts opening on the other side of the door. He vaguely remembered his father telling him if anyone other than a gringotts goblin tried that, they would be sucked inside and left to starve to small door swung open to reveal a huge pile of gold, silver and bronze. The gold coins were called galleons, the silver coins were called sickles and the bronze, knuts. took a large hanfull of gold and emptied it into her handbag. They took the long and winding cart ride back and eventually got past the silver and bronze doors and their goblins. 'Right, shopping time.' pulled out the list James had got with his Hogwarts letter.
It read:
Uniform
First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
Set books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment 1 wand 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) 1 set glass or crystal phials 1 telescope 1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
'Okay, shall we collect your uniform first? Only it does get quite busy in Madam Malkins if we leave it too late.' They headed for Madam Malkins (full name of shop?) accross the street. had been right, the already cramped shop was full enough and it wasn't even afternoon yet. When they had got inside recognized a few witches and wizards and rushed over to say hi. James, however decided to remain where he was and escape his mother embarassing him. At that monent a small girl with a plump, round face walked over. 'Hogwarts?',she asked him. James jumped, apparently not aware of the girl until now. 'Oh, uh, yeah.' 'Me too' the girl seemed nice, although quite shy. 'So, what house do you think you'll be in? I hope I'm in Gryffindor,' she added. 'My father was in Gryffindor, he's an aurer now. My mother was in Ravenclaw.' The girl seemed to be heading into a very long explanation of why her father was an aurer when small, plump woman rushed over. The women looked as though she was quite frustrated. She must be Madam Malkin, James thought. He was quite glad he didn't have to answer the girl, as he was an only child and was worried about what house he'd be put in. His mum and dad had been in Gryffindor, but what if he got put in Slytherin? He had heard that was the worst house to be in. Everyone says not one wizard in Slytherin had ever been good, they had used their abilities and powers for bad. 'Now dears, Hogwarts?',the woman presumed. Mrs. Potter came back over, accompanied by who must be the girls mother. She had the same plump, round, happy face. 'Ah, this must be James,'the woman said, and when no one told her she was wrong she went on, 'This is my daughter, Alice, I see you two have met?' Alice's face flushed slightly pink. 'Yes, mum.' Her mum smiled down at her. 'Excuse me,' came the voice of madam malkin. 'Hogwarts?', she repeated.
smiled up at and insited that she get Alice's robes fitted first and didn't object. So James was frced to wait in the crowds of people. 'At least I'm next,' James thought to himself. Soon enough, Madam Malkin bustled over and pulled out a measuring tape. With a flick of her wand, the tape was flying around James, taking measurements of his height, his waist, even the size of his head! At that point, Madam Malkin flicked her wand again, and the tape fell to the ground with a soft thump. She hurried off and was back with a set of robes in no time. James tried them on and with a few snips of her levitating scissors, they were a perfect fit. pulled out her purse, waved to the now departing Gartons' and set six galleons on Madam Malkins counter. They then made their way out and breathed in the cool, fresh air. 'Thank God that's done', seemed to be exhausted already, 'Off to Flourih and Blotts then...'
They arrived at the other end of the street in minutes and headed into another crowded store. pulled out the list and went off in search of the right books. Suddenly James heard a voice behind his back. It sounded arrogant and haughty. He swivveled round to face a small greasy, black haired boy about is age. The boy sneered at him. 'You must be James, am i correct?' The boy seemed to think he was better than James. This made him tense. 'Yeah, who are you?' James didn't care about having manners and being polite right now. The boy sneered again, 'I', the boy paused and took a bored breath in and out, 'am Severous Snape.' Suddenly, another boy of their age jumped in to join them. 'Washed your hair lately, Snivillus?' The boy was not afraid to speak his mind, for James had been thinking the exact same thing. 'Sirius, what a pleasure.' Snape made his ugly, sneering face and turned back to James, 'You don't want to be hanging around that filth, his whole family's only been in Slytherin...' Snape obvously knew how to touch a nerve with the boy. James picked up on this and quickly replied, 'I think I can choose my own friends thank you very much, and you really could do with a wash, you stink and all. I'd fry an egg on your head only it's full of lice.' Snape, if possible, looked even more sour and stalked away. 'Good one', Sirius winked at him, 'Never would of thought of that.' Sirius seemed nice but James was still full aware of the fact that Sirius' whole family had been in Slytherin. But maybe Sirius was different, he didn't look like the type that would turn bad. At that point a little boy with black hair ran over, 'Mum says to come on and stop hanging round with that scum.' Sirius looked very angered by this announcement, 'REGULUS', sirius gave James an appologetic look and gave Regulus such a menacing look that the younger boy ran off to find his mum. 'Look, I'm really sorry, I promise you I'm nothing like my family. Please believe me.' James looked at Sirius and couldn't help trusting him. 'I believe you.' Sirius looked a lot happier at this statement. 'Are you going to Hogwarts, then?' Sirius' eyes filled with hope when James replied, 'Yeah'. 'What house do you think you'll be -' he was cut off when a girl rushed over. She had black hair and was quite pretty. 'Sirius', she said in baby voice, 'Have you been bullying poor ickle Regulus again?' Sirius gave her his dirtiest look yet, obviouly disliking the girl. 'James, this is my cousin Bellatrix.' Sirius said in a stony voice. 'Hello.' James said politely. 'Ooh, is this your ickle fwend Sirius?' The girl was quie rude, James put his guard up again, ready for action. 'Go away Bellatrix.' Sirius was trying to restrain the anger in his voice. 'Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed today...' Bellatrix looked to be preparing for a full on argument when appeared with her hands full of books. Harry rushed over to help her, followed by Sirius. Once they got organized, thanked the two boys and told James they had to move on now before the other shops were crowded. James doubted their would be any shop without crowds of people but obeyed his mother. He waved goodbye to Sirius and as he was walking out the door he heard Bellatrix's nasty voice 'Quite the charmer today Sirius, aren't we?' But before Harry heard the rest of the conversation they were on their way to a shop full of cauldrons and brass instruments.
Mrs Potter yet again pulled the now crumpled list out of her pocket and read over the items. She collected the things then took James to get an ice cream. When he had his chocolate and peanut butter scoop, told him to wait there while she picked something up from a shop across the street. Soon enough she was back, holding something very large behind her back. 'Now James, I want you to take good care of her and I am getting this for you as a little going away present from your father and I, and as a way to talk to us quicker than using the ones provided at school.' James wondered what she could possibly have got him when she pulled a large cage out from behind her back containing a sleeping, shiny-black owl. 'Wow, thanks mum.' James was thrilled, he had always wanted an owl! Well, he wouls have preferred a broomstick but this was better than nothing. They went on their way back home while James tried to think of a name for his owl. He decided on Midnight. He couldn't wait to see Sirius again at Hogwarts and tell him about his new owl.