I don't own Harry Potter. All rights belong to J. K. Rowling. The only thing I own is Ami.
Chapter One
Diagon Alley
The Leaky Cauldron. A bustling, crowded magical pub with witches and wizards sitting at their tables drinking their pints of Butterbeer or Firewhisky. Ami squeezed herself through the sea of multi-coloured robes and hats, an easy feat for her small size; although a few times she was pushed away from the exit and had to start her battle again. She huffed in irritation when she finally managed to get outside.
"I hate being small..." she groaned before tapping the bricks to open up the entrance to Diagon Alley.
Her hands were swiftly tucked into her pockets and her head was bowed as her battered trainers began to tap lightly on the cobblestone path. Ami already knew her first stop, her father had made sure to drill it into her head before she left to make the trip on her own. It was something she had been looking forward to, Ami didn't like him watching her over her shoulder when she wanted to look around the shops.
Finally she stood before her first stop, the white building and marble steps that made up the entrance of Gringotts. Ami fingered the small gold key that sat in her jacket pocket, and then pushed open the large double doors. The inside was lined with desks standing so high she could barely see over the top of them, each one sat a small goblin, where they were stamping and sorting through papers. Slowly the eleven-year-old girl approached the front desk, and then stood on the tips of her toes to see the goblin sitting in front of her. He looked down at her through his wire rimmed glasses, his long nose sniffed slightly before a sharp, toothy smile emerged on his lips.
"Name, young witch?" he asked.
With a small gulp she gave her answer, giving her voice as much bravery as she could muster.
"Miss Ami Eterna!" she replied. "I wish to make a withdrawal from my vault, Sir Goblin."
"You have your key?"
"Yes Sir."
Ami took the key out of her pocket and showed it to him. The goblin nodded his head and gestured to another goblin to lead her over to the carts that would take them down into the depths of the bank. Vaguely she thought she heard the door open behind her before she sat down and whizzed off at top speed towards her vault.
Ami looked around her in awe, she felt like she was on one of those Muggle rollercoaster rides she'd gone on when she snuck out of the family home while her father was at work last summer. She loved how the rapid speed made her hair whip against her cheeks and how her knuckles turned white from holding onto the metal work.
"Vault 641," the goblin said when they finally jolted to a halt.
On wobbly legs Ami staggered off the cart and clambered over to the large door, handing her key over to the goblin while she held the lamp up so they could see (she'd seen her father do it before when he was making a withdrawal). The door groaned open and she couldn't stifle a gasp of amazement when she saw what was sitting in her mother's, now her, vault.
"Wow..."
Staring back at her were piles and piles of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, a sack of jewels in the corner. Ami gulped soundly as she hesitantly stepped into the room. She knelt down and shoved a handful of gold coins into a small bag before she caught sight of a gold bracelet. Picking it up she saw it was adorned with four jewels, a ruby, an emerald, a sapphire and a diamond.
"I remember this... My mother used to wear it all the time when I was little. She said all the past generations of the Elementals would wear it." She slipped it onto her right wrist. "And now it's my turn."
She looked up at the goblin standing by the door.
"I'm finished now, thank you."
With a nod of his head Ami climbed back onto the cart and held on until they returned to the main foyer.
Outside she stared at the bracelet sitting prettily on her wrist, twisted it to look at the brightly shining jewels.
"Mom...I hope you can help me, even if it is just through this."
Ami sighed while pointing to the gems, muttering each of the elements that they represented. Fire. Earth. Water. Air. Her lips pursed together before a smile touched her lips.
"Let's get shopping!"
It didn't take her long before she was standing outside of Flourish and Blotts, staring in through the window to look at the other families buying their books. Ami spotted a girl with frizzy brown hair up at the counter, her pile of books nearly blocking her from view. An eyebrow was raised.
"Not all of those are on the curriculum... She must be a Muggleborn, seems nice too."
Ami's attention then turned to her reflection. Her skin was pale, and her hair was brown, wavy and reached her shoulders; her bangs sat unevenly above her eyes, which were a bright shade of purple. She was small and thin, with a woman's chest beginning to blossom underneath her white t-shirt and her hips beginning to jut out slightly against her petite body. Her jeans had gotten dirty around the knees and cuffs on the cart ride in Gringotts; her trainers had a thin coating of dust on them, along with debris scattering the tops of the shoulders of her purple cardigan. Her hair was held away from her face by a purple Alice band. She looked like a cute little girl, except for the frown that marred her innocent face.
"At least he didn't make me wear the skirt, then I really would have looked like a done-up doll..." she complained.
To be perfectly honest, she preferred jeans and trainers over skirts and dresses. Although it looked like she didn't have a choice when it came to the school uniform. Although the grey pleated skirt did have an appeal. Her eyes landed on the books and she smiled before dashing inside, her hair flying behind her like a whip.
Later she left the book shop, her arms wrapped around her new cauldron, which was filled to the brim with her books and other school supplies. Ami had a toothy grin on her face, she'd gotten a few more books to add to her collection, as well as a blank book in case she got bored. All she needed now was her wand, and possibly an owl to keep her company since she couldn't take her other pet with her.
She was so focused on trying to make her way through the crowd that had gathered outside Quality Quidditch Supplies that she ended up bumping into someone, nearly toppling over under the weight of all her school stuff.
"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry!" Ami cried.
She managed to peer over the top of her shopping and met a pair of emerald green eyes. Lowering her arms slightly she managed to get a better look at the person she bumped into. It was a boy about her age, skinny and dwarfed in clothes several sizes too big for him, with jet black hair that stuck up all over the place, like he had been flying on a broomstick during a hurricane. He also had pale skin, and a pair of battered up glasses sitting on his nose. Ami couldn't help but think he was vaguely familiar.
"No, don't worry about it," he replied with a smile.
She shook her head.
"No, I'm so sorry. It's hard to get through all the people when they're fawning over the new Nimbus 2000," she laughed before extending her hand out to him. "I'm Ami Eterna, it's nice to meet you."
The boy shook her hand.
"Harry Potter, and it's fine."
Ami realised why he seemed so familiar. Her mother and the late Lily Potter had been friends throughout school, so she often visited with her in tow. Harry looked just like James, only he had Lily's emerald green eyes. Flicking her eyes up subtly Ami spotted the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. She shook herself and smiled.
"Getting your stuff for the first year then? I've got to do the same, thankfully I know my way around Diagon Alley. You got someone to take you around?"
Harry nodded his head.
"Yeah, Hagrid's taking me to get my wand. Ollivanders, I think he said the name was."
Ami clapped her hands together, careful to keep everything in hand.
"Oh! That's my last stop, but I'm going to get an owl first, they're meant to be really useful and easy to take care of during school," she explained. Stealing a glance at a nearby clock she realised that she had to leave soon. "I have to go, I'm meant to be meeting my dad in less than an hour. Maybe I'll see you on the train?"
"Okay, see you then!" Harry said as he walked away.
Ami smiled to herself all the way into Eeylops Owl Emporium, where the owls stared back at her with their jewelled eyes; feathers were floating around the room as they flew around the rafters above her head. She moved over the front desk and glanced around at the variety of owls swooping around the room.
"So pretty..." she whispered. Her eyes were sparkling in excitement and adoration. There was no denying her love of animals.
"They're real beauties, aren't they?" someone said behind her.
Ami turned around and found herself face to chest with a beard with scraggly black hair, thick and coarse. Craning her neck up she found herself looking up into a face covered with hair, with shiny black eyes that reminded her of beetles staring back at her. He was probably over eight feet tall.
"Yes, I'm struggling to choose which one. They're all so beautiful, I can't decide between them!" she cried.
The man laughed and shook her hand.
"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Yu an animal lover then?"
"Oh! I heard you were helping Harry around getting his school supplies. I'm Ami Eterna, and yes, I absolutely adore animals."
The two of them continued to talk while they looked at the owls.
"I'm lookin' for a birthday present for Harry," he explained. Pointing at a female snowy owl he spoke to the shopkeeper. "I'll 'ave this pretty one. Thank yu."
The snowy owl was placed in a metal cage and taken over to Hagrid with some other necessities. He then turned to Ami.
"I'll be seein' yu at Hogwarts, Ami. See yu in September!"
He was swift to leave the store.
Ami looked around the owls above her head and spotted a small barn owl staring back at her with beady black eyes. She tilted her head curiously and giggled when it mimicked her.
"You're a pretty girl, aren't you? Do you want to come home with me?" she asked.
The owl gave a happy little hoot and swooped down to land on her head, where it nibbled on her ears and hair. Laughing at the affection she called over the manager.
"E-Excuse me! Ha-ha! I'll, I'll have this one please." Ami tapped the owl on the side of the head with her finger. "Stop it! That tickles!"
The manager laughed at their behaviour.
"You got an affectionate one there! Let's get her set, shall we?" he smiled. "Although I've never seen her this cuddly to anyone, she's sometimes a bit of a recluse on a bad day."
She smiled at him when she put the owl in its cage.
"She's perfect, thank you so much."
With everything paid for she left the store. Ami looked at the owl again, who stared back at her with her pretty onyx eyes.
"I'm going to call you...Nymph. Do you like the sound of that?"
The hoot in response served as the only confirmation.
Ollivanders however was a much more sombre affair. The very moment Ami entered the shop with its ancient hanging sign she found herself gazing at an aging man with wiry white hair and a wrinkled face, his eyes like silver and a knowing smile on his face.
"I've been expecting you, Miss Eterna. You look so much like your mother when she came here over twenty years ago; ten and a half inches, oak and unicorn hair, a very sleek wand if I say so myself, good for Charms."
Ami gave him a hesitant nod and let him carry out his measuring, going from her wand arm to around her head like a headband (how is that meant to help exactly?).
He wandered over to the wand boxes near the back of the store, Ami attempted to peer over the top of the counter to see what he was doing, standing on the tips of her toes and bracing herself against the counter. But her small height and the sheer amount of boxes obscured her view. With an irritated groan she fell back onto her heels and arched an eyebrow when she saw the shattered remains of a chair in the corner of the room.
"Did someone break the chair while trying out the wands?" she asked herself.
The sound of a wheeled step ladder moving along the shelves moved her mind back to the present matter at hand. Ollivander stepped off the ladder and passed her one of the boxes.
"Let's try this one. Nine and a half inches, beech and phoenix feather, springy and very apt for Transfiguration."
Ami took the wand out and gave it a small flick. The light bulb of the nearby lamp exploded; she backed away with a wince and swiftly put it back in its box.
"I don't really want to blow things up, not unless I'm actually learning to..."
The man took the wand away and slid another one off the shelf.
"Maybe this one will be better. Ten inches, oak with a phoenix feather core. Good for defensive spells if I may say so, certainly more for the Elemental witch or wizard."
Ami gulped at his implication, he must have guessed if her mother shared the same wood; with a hesitant smile she reached out and gripped the wand tightly, her heart hammering against her ribcage.
It was like light flooding her senses, her eyes flashing beneath closed eyelids as a golden mist seemed to ruffle her hair. The wand felt like an extension of her arm, like it was as much a part of her as her hand or her head. She bit her lip and looked at the aging man with a smile.
"This one, definitely this one," she beamed.
Ollivander smiled down at the petite girl.
"Of course, I'll just package it up for you. That will be seven sickles please."
Paying for the last item on her list Ami walked out the shop with a ring of the bell, her arms wrapped around her cauldron and Nymph sitting in her cage under her arm.
The girl was thankful that the street had quietened considerably since she had been inside the shop; no one was bumping into her anymore so she was able to keep hold of all her belongings. Ami was quick to head back over to the Leaky Cauldron, desperate to make sure she didn't miss her father; her feet pounded on the cobblestones and Nymph screeched in protest at being jostled about. She couldn't even mutter an apology to her new friend because she had gone back through the wall at the back of the pub and had stepped back into the mass of witches and wizards downing their dinners.
"Made it!" she cheered.
Her smile faltered slightly when she saw her father approach her from the entrance, he didn't look particularly happy, but then again, it wasn't often that he was.
"Have you got everything, Ami? Do you think you've forgotten anything?" he asked.
Ami's face lit up again, so maybe he wasn't unhappy, he still cared about her, just struggled to show it at times.
"Yes, Dad. I also got a new friend too, meet Nymph."
The man smiled as he ruffled her hair slightly.
"That's good, you really shouldn't have that other friend of yours with you, especially at school. Who knows the havoc it could cause?"
"Yes Dad." Ami responded softly. She then whispered to herself. "She'll probably follow me anyway and make it back home before anyone notices she's missing..."
He held her close to his side as they made their way out the pub, then apparated home with a violent crack.
I've decided to keep this story as one fanfiction, should be easier. This is the first time I've put my own character into a fanfiction, so I hope I am able to make her as realistic as possible. Let me know what you think of her.
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