Thanks for reading and please review. If there are any spelling errors or plot inconsistencies let me know.
Hagrid and I stepped out of Gringotts and walked back down the marble steps. Once we had reached the bottom Hagrid paused and started fumbling in his pocket for something.
"What you looking for?" I asked curiously.
"Yeh shoppin' list. I need it so we know what ter get yeh. Ah, here it is." He held up a piece of folded yellow parchment. "Uniform, books, wand. Nothin too difficult. Shouldn't take long."
"Can I see?" He passed me the note and I skimmed through it quickly. Yeah, it wasn't too long, and after a quick glance around I could see half a dozen of shops that looked like they would sell half the items I needed, and half a dozen more that looked interesting anyway. "Hey, Hagrid, listen. This list isn't too long and I'm sure I could get the stuff myself. You just need to give me the money and I'll meet you back at the Leaky Cauldron." Hagrid frowned.
"I dunno 'Arry. Dumbledore told me ter keep me eye on yeh see."
"Please Hagrid? I'll only buy the stuff in the list, I swear. You can wait in the Leaky Cauldron for me, catch up with some of your friends." I was hoping the offer of the pub would sway Hagrid in my favour, he looked like the type of guy who liked to drink. He frowned some more, then grunted and nodded.
"Alright 'Arry. If ya sure. I could use a pick-me-up afta that awful cart ride. I'll see yeh in the Cauldron, and don't yeh dare be late." I was tempted to mention to him that Hagrid hadn't actually set a meeting time but his back was turned and he was already lumbering away.
Well, I thought to myself, what to get first. Another glance at the list and I saw that I needed to get a trunk so I figured that if I started with that I could use it to carry anything else I bought. I darted into a shop called 'Calcemo's Trunks' and ten minutes later I left with a three compartment trunk that was charmed with something called 'featherlight' and had the ability to shrink down to the size of a matchbox.
My next stop was the bookshop, where I got all the books on my list plus a handful of others that caught my fancy and a seven book collection that the lady at the counter recommended to me. She said it was an ideal introduction to the magical world.
After that it was the potions shop where I grabbed all of my potions ingredients and a handy looking foldable potions kit. When folded it had the same dimensions as an A4 textbook, but contained everything I needed like an ingredients drawer, cauldron and phial stand complete with un-unbreakable charmed crystal phials.
I then bought a collapsible telescope plus a real time star map that showed all the constellations as from where you were, and after that I bought a stack of charmed leather notebooks to keep notes in and fancy fountain pen that could change colour ink and never ran out.
All in all I was feeling pretty good about myself since this was the most stuff I had ever bought in one sitting before and was repeatedly getting a kick whenever I un-shrank my trunk and put my purchases inside. True to its description, it did indeed feel featherlight in my pocket, and when opened contained three compartments that I could cycle through with a press of a button. Magic was so cool.
The next place I went to was the clothes shop. The place was covered in different types of fabrics, a few of which looked so soft that I couldn't resist reaching out to touch them.
"Don't." A short squat which snapped. "Them fabrics are expensive."
"Sorry?" I answered. The woman sniffed and looked down her nose at me.
"Good. You Hogwarts?"
"Yes. First year. I need my uniform."
"Of course ya do. Step up here then so I can measure ya." She gestured to a wooden platform which I obligingly stepped up onto next to a pale blond boy who was also being measured. He looked me up and down carefully before he spoke.
"So, you're Hogwarts as well then. What house are you aiming for? I'm aiming for Slytherin. Everyone in my family has been in Slytherin you know." My thoughts scrambled as I didn't have a bloody clue who or what the other houses were so I figured I may as well go with the safe option.
"Yeah, I'm aiming for Slytherin too." The boy nodded.
"Smart. It is the best house after all. Hey, I say, what's your name? Your father may well know my father if they work together after all." I didn't exactly want to tell him my real name as I'd dealt with enough of the fawning and weird looks today as it was so I decided to lie.
"Hadrian. Hadrian Marks."
"Marks you say? I can't think of a noble family called 'Marks'. Did your family just move here?"
"Yes, we just moved back. We haven't lived in England since I was born." The boy smirked. "What?"
"That explains your confusion then."
"My confusion?"
"Yes, when I asked you what house you wanted to be in. You looked positively panicked, but that's perfectly understandable if you've only just moved back into the country. That explains your clothes as well." I blushed and looked down, laughing nervously.
"Yes, of course. I didn't realise you had picked up on that." The lady doing the boy's measurements spoke up at that point.
"All done here." The boy jumped down off the stool.
"Well Hadrian Marks, it has been a pleasure meeting you. I say, why don't I tell you my name and we can correspond via owl? I can help you get up to snuff on current wizarding affairs and whatnot. My father tells me all about that sort of thing you see, he works in the Ministry."
"Ministry?" I asked confusedly. The boy snorted and shook his head in disbelief.
"That can be one of the things you can ask me about. Do you have an owl?"
"I'm just about to get one."
"Excellent. My name's Draco Malfoy, at Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire. Send your owl there. It's been a pleasure Hadrian." Draco stuck out his hand and I shook it. He nodded once more and then left.
Ten minutes later and my robes were finished too, so I paid for them and headed off to get my wand.
After a very weird exchange with a very creepy man called Ollivander I was in possession of my new wand, a beautiful holly wood one with a core of phoenix feather. I was feeling a bit cautions about the phoenix feather actually, as Ollivander had been muttering mildly threatening things about how my wand's 'brother' had given my scar. I decided to try and look further into that 'He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' character but tried to push Ollivander's words to the back of mind for the moment.
Then, I went to my final shop, Eeylops Owl Emporium, where I purchased a gorgeous snowy owl. With her cage under my arm I returned to the Leaky Cauldron and found Hagrid partially slumped on bar stool. It took some vigorous shaking but I eventually managed to rouse him and he lead me, somewhat blearily, back to the station to catch my train where Hagrid left me with a slightly confused sounding "see yeh 'Arry" and my train ticket for the 1st of September.
Sitting on the train home everything felt weird. Everything looked different and I just couldn't shake that feeling. I had always felt like that though. Just a bit.
I had always felt slightly out of place, like I wasn't where I supposed to be and now, I knew I had been right all along. But, as it tuned out where I was supposed to be was much better.