Ariana Clark put her red hair up into a ponytail and smiled at the mirror. She was going back to school in two days. Now, most kids might not be excited about that, but Ariana most definitely was. Because a year ago, she had discovered she was a witch, and she had discovered a whole world of magic-not to mention her best friend, Ginny Weasley. Last year had been pretty bad, with Ginny possessed by an evil diary and petrifying their classmates. But that was fixed now, and Ariana knew that this year would be fantastic. The only thing was, the magic school she went to was in the UK, where Ariana had been born. And Ariana lived with her adopted family in America. Which meant that right now they were heading to the airport. It was 7:00pm, and their flight left at 9. That would bring them to London right around 9 am England time tomorrow, which would give them the day to spend shopping for Ariana's new school things in Diagon Alley. That was a secret wizarding street with wizarding shops hidden right in the middle of London! Is that cool, or what? Tomorrow was also Ariana's twelfth birthday, which was pretty cool. She was the youngest person in her entire year, since she was born the day before the start of term. She still didn't know who her birth parents were. They had died in October of 1981, shortly before her friend Harry Potter had defeated the greatest wizard of the age. Ariana suspected he or his followers had killed her parents, and she knew her adoptive parents knew something, but despite her pestering them all summer they hadn't spoken a word on the subject. That was quite annoying. But it was alright now; she'd be going back to Hogwarts, and surely once there she could find out.
"Ariana!" her mother called. "We have to leave for the airport!"
"Alright, coming mom!" she called. Her American accent had pretty much fully returned over the summer, meaning she'd be attracting odd looks at Hogwarts again. That was alright though; she'd pick up the British accent just as she had last year. She wondered vaguely if by the end of her time at Hogwarts she would sound permanently British. Grabbing her suitcase, she joined her parents downstairs. The adventure was starting.
With a yawn, Ariana stepped out into Heathrow airport. In her time, it was 4am. She had to get on British time fast, though; September 2nd they started classes.
"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," her father said.
"We love you," her mother added.
"I love you guys too."
"So, where's this place we're looking for?" her father asked. "Diagon Alley?"
"Yeah, hang on, someone from Hogwarts sent me the address of the closest Muggle shop."
Handing it to her parents, she started walking towards baggage claim. She hoped the TSA hadn't inspected her bag; they would have found some odd things in there. Grabbing the smaller bag that just had some Muggle clothes in it, Ariana sat down on top of it. This was the second time she had flown into this airport now, and the third time she'd been here. She was sure that after seven years she'd be accustomed to it.
When they had all their bags, they went out and hailed a taxi, taking it to the address Ariana had been given. They stepped out, and Ariana pointed the Leaky Cauldron out to her parents (as Muggles, they couldn't see it otherwise). It was about 11am. They walked in, and Ariana was surprised at what greeted her; Ginny Weasley and her mother were walking towards the entrance to Diagon Alley.
"Ginny!"
The girl whipped around. "Ariana?!"
"Hi!" She ran up to her friend and hugged her.
Ginny hugged her back. "Hi to you too. How's your summer been?"
Ariana snorted. "Incredibly boring. Nobody wants to make owls fly all the way to America. I've been living full Muggle. How about you?"
"Oh, well, I guess you don't know-Dad won a bunch of gold from the Daily Prophet, we all took a trip to Egypt to visit Bill!"
"Wow! That's so cool," Ariana said.
Mrs. Weasley entered the conversation. "Hello, dear."
"Oh, hello mam." Ariana looked down at her feet. She still felt awkward around Ginny's parents after what had happened last year; she rather blamed herself.
Mrs. Weasley smiled brightly. "Are those your parents?" she asked, gesturing to them. They were right behind Ariana now.
"Yes."
"Hello." Mrs. Weasley shook hands with each of them. "You might want to avoid my husband, he'll bombard you with questions. Fascinated with Muggles, he is."
"Well, I'm sure we'll meet him," Ariana's mother said with a smile. "We're staying here tonight."
"Oh, how lovely! We are as well, and so are Harry and Hermione!"
"Harry and Hermione..." her father frowned. "You've mentioned them, right?"
"Yes, I have." She was still annoyed that her parents refused to admit to knowing who Harry Potter was. That would be proof they knew about the wizarding world, and most likely her birth parents, and she was sure they did.
"Anyway, I imagine we've all got some shopping to do," Mrs. Weasley said. "Why don't you come with us?"
"Oh, thanks!" Ariana said with a smile.
They left the Leaky Cauldron and headed into Diagon Alley.