Looking around, Blake could definitely see why the Leaky Cauldron would be a good place for wizards to gather. The place was dingy, but had a friendly air nevertheless. The barmaid waved merrily at them as they passed by her, and Professor Corner led them through the backdoor next to the bar and into a small, enclosed space where the bins were. Corner took out his wand and tapped on the wall, and the brickwork there suddenly began to shift, revealing at first a small hole, until it was large enough for them to pass through. On the other side of the wall, however, was not just a small little alley, but a huge street lined on either side with shops.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Corner said happily, before leading them through the passageway. Blake stared in awe at the shops that they passed, such as an apothecary where a witch with a wart on her chin was observing a box labeled "dragon spleen", or the shop named Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions where a portly wizard was standing with three children, all of whom were wearing brand new robes. They passed bookshops, broomstick shops, which, Corner, explained, was where one could by racing brooms for playing Quidditch or for flying, which he explained was a common form of traveling in the Wizarding world, and that Quidditch was a popular sport played in the air.

Quill shops, pet shops, shops selling cauldrons; all of these were just a few of the shops that they passed before they stopped in front of a large white marble building with the name Gringotts Wizarding Bank carved into the front building. They climbed the steps and went through a pair of polished bronze doors that had two very small men, or what appeared to be men, in gold and scarlet uniforms. This led them into a smaller entrance hall with silver doors and a plaque with words written on it.

"The bank is owned and run by goblins," Corner said while Blake took the moment to read the inscription on the silver doors. "And they take their treasures very seriously. In fact, there have only been two break-ins at the bank, and only one of the two was successful."

They passed through the silver doors and found themselves in an enormous marble hall with long polished mahogany counters with various entrances at random intervals behind the desks, each of which had a goblin seated behind it. The one closest to Blake was weighing what appeared to be diamonds, his long fingers gently lifting up one to look at through a magnifying glass. When he found Blake watching, he replaced the diamond and gave a nasty smile to him, and Blake found that he had long sharp teeth. He turned away hastily and jogged to catch up with his parents and Professor Corner, who had made it about halfway up the hall. When they had come to the end of the hall, the stopped in front of a goblin raised higher than the others.

"Hello, could you inform us where to go or who to see for Muggle money exchange?" Professor Corner asked, smiling politely up at the goblin who had been writing hastily with a long quill. He barely glanced up before answering.

"Algrond," He said in a mildly wheezing voice. A smaller goblin glanced up from where he was counting rubies onto scales at the counter just to the left of the raised desk.

"Yes sir?" Algrond asked.

"Please help these people," the first goblin said, setting aside his parchment and pulling another one toward him. Algrond gave a small sigh, and snapped his long fingers, making the rubies disappear. Then he turned to Blake's group and clasped his hands together on the desk.

"What can I do for you?" Algrond asked, his tone polite.

"We need to do a Muggle money exchange, and open a new vault for Mr. Avis here who is starting at Hogwarts this year," Professor Corner said. The goblin smiled and snapped his fingers, and a long piece of parchment appeared before him, and another goblin stepped up to the desk who presented a small iron key and a tag attached to it.

"A new vault opening will cost 5 galleons; that will be twenty five pounds," He said, holding a hand out to Blake. Mr. Avis reached into his back pocket and removed a wallet, in which he usually carried a large sum of money as it was. He removed two one hundred pound notes from the wallet and presented them to Algrond, who took the money and placed it into a drawer under his desk, and pulled a small bag out of it, which he placed into the hand of the goblin next to him. A moment later, the goblin reappeared with the sack jangling between his hands and placed it onto the desk.

"You'll need to sign this," Algrond said, handing Blake a quill. On the top of the parchment was the poem from the silver doors warning thieves, and further on was a little bit of information regarding what the bank would do for him. "There is an annual fee of one galleon every year, which will be collected on the turn of New Year's Day from your vault." He explained. Blake dipped the quill into a small pot of ink that was sitting on the desk and scribbled his name onto the parchment before Algrond whipped it out of sight and placed the money bag onto the table.

"Inside, you will find thirty seven Galleons, and an assortment of Sickles and Knuts. If you wish, I will escort you to your new vault where you may deposit some of the money for safekeeping," Algrond said, passing the iron key to Blake which had the number 306 written on the tag. "Or I can simply have someone drop it off for you."

"We can hold onto the majority of it – you'll need quite a lot of it for shopping. I would suggest leaving at least five Galleons in your vault, just in case," Corner said. Mr. and Mrs. Avis seemed to agree, so Blake opened the bag and counted out five golden Galleons and placed them on the counter. Algrond swiped his hand over the Galleons and brushed them into a small bag that he pulled out of his desk, and bowed to them.

"It is a pleasure to welcome you to our services, Mr. Avis. Be sure to hold onto the key, as you'll need it if you wish to make a withdrawal. Have a pleasant day," Algrond said, bowing once more as they walked away.

"They seem rather… interesting," Mrs. Avis mentioned when they had descended the steps of Gringotts.

"Indeed; goblins are very intelligent creatures. They don't enjoy being viewed as inferior to wizards because they seem themselves on the same playing field, if not better than wizards. Anyway, the next thing you'll want to do is to stop by Ollivanders and get a wand, they're the best when it comes to making wands,"

And with this, they moved down the street, Blake once again staring everywhere around him, until they reached a dark looking shop. When they entered, a small tinkling bell echoed somewhere in the shop, and the door swung shut behind them quietly. Tiny boxes lined shelves in every nook and cranny throughout the store. It appeared to Blake as though most of them had been handled multiple times, and the oldest of the boxes was losing the color it had once held, the corners bent oddly. After a few moment s of waiting, they heard a small cough echo through the shop and a man appeared at the end of one of the shelves. He appeared to be immensely old with his pale skin hanging in some areas, and his hair was white as snow. His eyes, however, seemed bright and full of life.

"What do we have here? Michael Corner? You haven't come for a new wand…?" He stopped short upon noticing, for the first time, that there were three other people in the shop behind Professor Corner. "Ah, a Muggle-Born? Not to worry, we can sort you out in a jiffy," the old man said, turning to his shelves, his long, thin fingers brushing over boxes as they searched. He stuffed the hand that wasn't searching into his jacket pocket and removed a long wand, which he pointed at something sitting on the counter at the front of the shop. A long tape measure jumped up and flew around Blake suddenly measuring various parts of him. For a moment, Blake thought that this might have been particularly useful until it started measuring around his neck. "That will do," The old man said suddenly, grabbing the tape and stowing it away onto the desk.

"Now, my name is Garrick Ollivander. I've been making wands for a very long time, and my family has been in the wandmaking business for centuries. I'm a proponent that the wand chooses the wizard, Mr…?" Mr. Ollivander trailed off, looking at Blake inquiringly.

"Blake Avis," Blake said, watching Mr. Ollivander with interest.

"Mr. Avis. Well then, we'll try some wands and see what you get. I only work with three wand cores you see, so the options are limited only by the combination of woods and wands, but no two wands are the same, even if the wood and the core happens to be the same match," And with this, he pulled a box from off of the counter and pulled the lid off of it, revealing a long white wand nestled on a black velvet cushion.

"Yew, 15 ¼ inches, dragon heartstring," Mr. Ollivander said, handing the wand to Blake who held it for a few seconds, staring at it, before Mr. Ollivander had jerked it out of his hand and returned it to the box. "Not to worry, the first try is hardly ever the right one." He said.

This process continued for some time. Blake had tried thirty different wands of various combinations, but nothing seemed to be what Mr. Ollivander wanted.

"Here, try this one: Oak, 9 inches, unicorn tail hair," Mr. Ollivander said. Blake picked up the wand and had barely closed his grip around it when he felt Ollivander's prying fingers taking it away again.

"That one felt kind of warm," Blake muttered quietly, growing tired of the process. His parents seemed too anxious to grow annoyed.

"Yes, well that means very little," Mr. Ollivander snapped as he whipped out of site once more, down a new line of shelves that he hadn't been to yet.

He returned with five boxes in his arms, each of which he opened before handing the wand inside to Blake.

Neither the 16 ¾ inches rosewood and phoenix feather wand, the 10 ½ inches holly and dragon heartstring wand, the 13 inches cherry and unicorn hair wand, or the 7 inches blackthorn and phoenix feather wand seemed to work for Ollivander, who it seemed was starting to have fun with the challenge.

"Here we are then," Said Mr. Ollivander, removing a pale colored wand from within its golden cushioned box. "10 ¾ inches, larch, unicorn tail hair, quite flexible." As he handed the wand to Blake, something happened that hadn't happened with any of the other wands that he had tried. The wand felt like it had warmed up, and from it burst forth four red sparks.

"We've got a match!" Ollivander said happily, much to Blake's relief. "That will be seven Galleons."

A few moments later, they were leaving Mr. Ollivander's shop with Blake's new wand stowed away in his pocket. Next, Blake went into Madam Malkin's to get robes. The proprietor, a pleasant looking witch, took a look at his parents and Professor Corner before turning to him with a smile on her face.

"In you get, I've just started on another Hogwarts student," She smiled, pushing him along gently behind a rack where she pulled a stool up next to a boy with black hair. Blake stood on top of it and held his hands out while she took his measurements before she disappeared into the back.

"Are you going to Hogwarts, too?" Blake asked, turning to look at the boy next to him. The boy smiled and gave a small nod. He was thin and pale, his hair messy, and green eyes shining brightly. He stuck out a hand which Blake shook quickly as Madam Malkin strolled back into the room.

"I'm Albus," He said. "Albus Potter. But my friends usually just call me Al. I'm starting Hogwarts this year."

"I'm Blake Avis. I'm starting this year, too," Blake returned.

"Know what House you'll be in yet?" Albus asked, much to Blake's confusion. He was thankfully saved from looking stupid in front of Albus Potter, however, when Madam Malkin shoved a large black mass over his head. He emerged moments later, wearing robes much too large for him.

"I'm sorry?" Blake asked, turning his head to look at Albus.

"Your House," Albus asked. When Blake could give no answer, Albus's eyes lit with curiosity and he was about to ask him another question when Madam Malkin shoved another much too large robe over Albus's head. He emerged a moment later, his black hair even messier than before. "Are you a Muggle-born?" He asked.

"Um… yes," Blake answered.

"That's cool. My aunt is a Muggle-born you know, and she's brilliant and very talented. She's the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic," Albus said. Blake smiled at this, hoping that maybe once he started at school he would be as talented or live up to such a title as Albus's aunt.

"What was that you said, about Houses?" Blake asked.

"Oh, Hogwarts is divided into four Houses for the four founders of the school. They each represent a different character trait; my brother and I have gotten into a few arguments because he keeps saying that I might wind up in Slytherin…" He trailed off. Moments later, a man walked in from around the corner that looked remarkably like Albus. They had the same black, untidy hair and the same eyes, except the man wore glasses.

"Is everything alright in here, son?" He asked Albus, who nodded happily.

"Yep, just met Blake here; he's going to Hogwarts too dad, he's a Muggle-born,"

"Oh?" Said Albus's father, who held out his hand while Madam Malkin had her back turned to work on Albus's robes. "I'm Harry Potter, Head of the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic."

"I'm Blake Avis," Said Blake nervously. He didn't know what an Auror was, but since Harry Potter was the head of the office, he was sure that the man must be very well known and popular.

"Well, Blake, I'm sure that you'll have a lot of fun when you get to Hogwarts. Years ago when I was starting at Hogwarts, I had no idea that the Wizarding World even existed. I'm not a Muggle-born of course, but I lived with my Muggle aunt and uncle growing up,"

"Well, it looks like you're both finished," Madam Malkin interrupted, and guided the three out of the back. Mr. and Mrs. Avis were waiting alone. Moments later, Professor Corner walked into the shop, laden with bags. He set them down and waved in greeting to Mr. Potter.

"Harry, long time, no see. Is this Albus?" Professor Corner asked.

"Yes, Michael, this is Albus. Are you two Mr. and Mrs. Avis?" Mr. Potter asked, turning to Blake's parents.

"Hello," Mr. and Mrs. Avis said nervously.

After Blake and Mr. Potter had paid for the robes, they were heading in different directions. "I reckon we'll see each other at Hogwarts," Albus said happily to Blake before following his father down the Alley.

"Look at you, making friends already," Said Mrs. Avis proudly.

"Yes, well, we must make a few more stops. Blake, I went to get you a cauldron and a telescope, a standard set of potion ingredients, and your standards from Flourish and Blotts for your books, and parchment, ink, and quills while you were getting fitted. The only thing left would be a pet, if you want one. I know you'd rather not buy an owl as a pet, Mrs. Avis, but it really is the easiest way to communicate in our world," Professor Corner said, indicating the bags that he had brought with him. He gave a flick of his wand and the things vanished. "I've sent them all back to your house. Travelling with them in the Floo Network would be a disaster."

"Mum, can I please get an owl?" Blake asked imploringly. He didn't want to feel left out when he got to Hogwarts.

"I don't know…" She started, rubbing her arm.

"Oh come on, then, Jane. Don't deprive the boy of something that most of his classmates will have just because you have a fear of birds," Mr. Avis chuckled, and his wife gave in, but she refused to enter Eeylop's Owl Emporium when they arrived at the shop. Moments later, they exited the store with a large barn owl in a large silver cage. The owl was sleeping and his head was tucked under his wing. Professor Corner gave his wand another flick and the owl and cage vanished.

With the money bag feeling considerably lighter, the Avis family made their way back down Diagon Alley and into the Leaky Cauldron once more. They each accepted a glass of something called Butterbeer, something Blake found incredibly delicious, from the barmaid who formally introduced herself this time as Madam Hannah Longbottom. Then, they each took a pinch of Floo Powder, called out the address of their home, and vanished in a whirl of emerald flames. When they had come out of the fire place, Professor Corner shook each of their hands in turn.

"Very well then, I shall come to take you to the train on the first of September. If you have any questions, send a letter with your owl. He'll know where to go. Don't lose your Hogwarts letter, as the ticket you'll need for the train is in the envelope," And with that, he bade them a good day and left the house.

The Avis family was in silence the rest of the evening, none of them quite able to believe what had transpired in that day. That night, Blake lay awake, wondering about the future, and whether he would wake the next morning to find that it had all just been a dream.