DISCLAIMER- I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson characters, I only own Lizzy.

It was a very long street, zigzagged all the way up. The nearest shop to us was one selling cauldrons, with stacks of different ones outside. I tried to see everything as we walked up the street, but there was just too much to take in with one glance. An apothecary selling all sorts of funny ingredients, a dark shop called 'Eeylops Owl Emporium' which was emitting a soft hooting from inside, and a very crowded one which I guessed sold broomsticks, but couldn't see too much to tell because there were a load of kids outside the window. I heard a snatch of conversation,

"-new Nimbus 2000, fastest model ever, it-" It was all a blur as Professor McGonagall was walking very fast. I saw shops selling robes, telescopes, spell books, quills and parchment- until we stopped in front of a massive, white marble, gleaming building that towered over all the other shops on the street.

"This is Gringotts. The creatures who run the bank are goblins, terribly smart but can also be very fierce and extremely cunning. Never cross a goblin, it could be the last thing you do." McGonagall informed us. We walked up the stairs, through two sets of doors and into a vast hall. Counters ran along the two long walls, with creatures- I assumed they must be the goblins- sat on high stools behind them. They were counting coins (that must be wizard money, I thought) and weighing out rubies, diamonds, emeralds and all manner of other precious jewels and metals. There were goblins leading other people through doors that led off from the hall. I thought that they must lead to the volts. We exchanged my 'muggle' money for wizard coins. I found out that the big golden ones were called 'Galleons', the silver ones 'Sickles' and the little bronze ones 'Knuts'. Also, that there were 17 Sickles to a Galleon and 29 Knuts to a Sickle. There was no way I was going to remember that, but McGonagall said I'd pick it up easy enough. We were led through a door into a cold, dark passageway. On the floor there were tracks, and I found out why when a cart came hurting around the corner towards us. The goblin ushered us into it, and we set off. Boy, was it fast. It was like a rollercoaster, except you weren't sure if you were going to make it off alive at the end- and I'm not too keen on rollercoasters in general.

I kept my eyes shut the whole time.

Afterwards, Percy told me that we'd passed over underground lakes, through massive caverns with hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites and at one point he swore he had seen a dragon. It was almost enough for me to wish I'd opened my eyes. Almost. When we finally came to a halt, I got out with my knees shaking and had to lean against the wall for a second. Even Percy looked a bit green. The goblin opened the vault, number 578, and the contents took my breath away. Stacks of golden Galleons, piles of silver Sickles and bronze Knuts scattered all over the place. Our family was fairly poor, so it was no surprise that Percy and I said in unison,

"Wow."

McGonagall smiled at us, and helped me put some of it into a little pouch, and then it was back into the cart for the ride of doom. Oh joy. As we shopped, McGonagall told us all about Hogwarts, the wizarding world and it's history, and quite a few interesting facts about life in general. Despite her appearance, I realised that McGonagall wasn't as forboding as she had first seemed. She also told us that teachers never usually showed students around Diagon Ally except for special cases, like Hagrid was doing for Harry Potter. When I asked about who he was, sadness flickered in her eyes for a moment before they steeled over again, and she told us both about his tragic story and about He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

I still called him Voldemort. I knew names held power, but not if their owners were dead, and fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. After buying a cute barn owl it was, at last, time for the thing I was most excited for- a wand. We headed over to a shabby looking shop, 'Olivanders', which was apparently supposed to be the best around for wands. It was dark and a bit gloomy inside. Suddenly a figure popped out from a self next to us. Without even thinking, I had whipped off my bracelet and transformed it into a sword. I looked to the side of me and saw Percy had done the exact same thing with Riptide.

"Put those away, quickly, before anybody sees!" McGonagall flustered. Both of us put our swords away hurriedly. The man we had almost sliced to pieces looked very old and frail, but his big, milky eyes said otherwise; there was a kind of fire behind them.

"Ah. The demigods." he chuckled quietly. "Nice to see you again, Minerva. I believe it was fir, 9 1/2 inch, dragon heartstring?" he asked McGonagall. She nodded. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Jackson. Every one. And I will always find a wand to choose every wizard, so don't worry about that. I'll find the one that chooses you." he said softly, whilst rummaging around the shelves at the back of the shop. They were stacked to the ceiling with slim boxes, with no particular order that I could see. However, it obviously made sense to Mr Olivander (I guessed this must be him, there was no one else there.) because he seemed to have found what he was searching for and came back over to me.

"Choose me?"

"Oh yes. The wand chooses the wizard, Miss Jackson, always remember that." he said mysteriously. He presented me with the wand. I took it, and unsure of what to do, I waved it. As soon as I had, it was snatched away again by Mr Olivander. He shuffled back over to the shelves, muttering, "No, no... Maybe... Hmmmm, that could be it..." He gave me another wand. The same thing happened. This process went on forever, but instead of getting frustrated, he only seemed to get happier.

"Tricky customer! But we'll find one, we always do. How about..." But then, he gave me one that when I touched it, it sent a wave of warmth flooding through my fingers. I picked it up and waved it. I knew instantly that this was the right one, and so did Mr Olivander, as he said, "Yes, yes. Rowan wood, unicorn hair, 10 1/4 inches. I'll go wrap it for you." We left the shop a few minutes later and, ladden with bags, we made our way back up the street to the Leaky Cauldron. McGonagall walked us back through the pub and out to the street in front.

"Now, Elizabeth," Cringe alert. "at school you can't say a word about being a demigod. You can talk about anything else, but you can't let slip anything about your other life, understand me?" I nodded. "And Perseus, you in turn can't tell anyone at Camp Half-blood about the magical world. Chiron says only you and a girl named Annabeth know about this? Could you please keep it that way?" He nodded. "Okay, now that we've got that sorted, here's your train ticket. All you have to do is walk straight through the wall between platforms 9 and 10. I'm looking forward to seeing you at Hogwarts." she said, before disappearing with a crack like a whip. Percy and I looked at the ticket she'd given me.

Platform 9 and 3/4.

It was finally the day. I was so excited, nervous, sad and happy all at the same time. Mum and Percy were going with me to the train station, and after loading my trunk into the boot of the taxi, sliding into the back with my owl, and receiving some very funny looks from the driver, we were off. Percy's hand snaked over and held mine. Normally, I would've been annoyed, but under the circumstances I was grateful and squeezed it. He grinned at me, and in no time at all we were at Kings Cross Station and facing the wall in between platforms 9 and 10. Two boys in front of us, one with messy black hair and one with ginger leaned against it and- vanished. As simple as that. Mum stopped the red headed lady who was about to go through with her daughter to ask how it worked.

"Ah, muggles are you? All you have to do is push through the wall. It's easy, you've just got to do it when the other muggles can't see. I'll show you, dears." Just as a large group of tourists went past, she leaned into the wall and passed through it. We got the idea, and as soon as a wave of men in business suits rushed by, we passed through the wall and onto platform 9 and 3/4. There was a scarlet steam engine stationed there, the Hogwarts Express, and hundreds of families were bustling about. Percy helped me put my trunk on board, then I came back down to say goodbye. I hugged my mum, who made me promise to write to her at the first chance I got.

I turned to Percy. We hugged, and it was hard to tell who was holding the tightest. And I just want to let you know that I was NOT crying at all. It was just that we'd been through so much together, especially this last summer. I pulled away when I heard a whistle blow, and dryed my eyes- the steam was really starting to affect them, thank you very much. Anyways, Percy was drying his eyes too.

"Send my love to Annabeth, will you?" He nodded.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Dolphin!"

"I'm going to miss you too, Seaweed Brain!" I choked. I jumped on the train, and waved goodbye to them as the train left the station, before going to find somewhere to sit.

Hey! So, do you like it so far? Thanks to the reviewers so far, and all the people who follow/ favorite the story! Love you all!