"Wake up, Vanessa!" she said.

"Why?" I rolled on the other side of my bed.

"That man you saw yesterday, Albus Dumbledore, came to take you to Diagon Alley to buy your things to Hogwarts."

With that, I pushed the bad sheeI stayed at my room thinking how angry I was with mom when I finally fell asleep. I woke up some hours later form mom shooking me.

ts of me, got on a sitting position and stared at her.

"Wait a moment," I say. "A man who any of us knows comes to our house and tells us that I am a witch, and you believe him and, you let him take me with him to the Diagon Alley? I mean, you don't even know where this is, or if it's even real, do you? What if I need something, you will not know where I am!" I said and mom, who hadn't interrupted me until now, decided that it was finally time to speak.

"I do know Albus and I trust him. I know that one day you are going to trust him too. He is going to help you control your... powers. Go with him. If you still think he is lying, then I will not push you do anything again, you will do whatever you want."

Okay, I did like the fact that she wouldn't push me to do things again. But my overprotective self wouldn't let me relax.

"But it might be already late by then," I said.

"It won't."

Mom gave me a small bag full of money. She said I would need them later. I was shocked because she had never gave me so many money at once before.

I ate breakfast quiclly and then went to my room and locked myself in it, telling all the others that I needed to get ready. ('But the Headmaster of your new school won't be here for another hour, what are you going to do until then?' 'Honey, us girls need much time to get ready, so stop bothering her')

Because I knew that if I didn't do something like that, Mark would follow me everywhere and start kidding me for my new school.

Only mum knew that I was going to be to a magic school and I have no idea what she told to the others.

After all, how do I tell somemeone that I am a witch?

Because deep inside, I knew I was really a witch, and not with the bad meaning. Even if I kept trying to persuade myself that I wasn't.

So one hour later, that man, Albus Dumbledore, came again. Mom dragged me downstairs to the door where he was. Thankfully, all the others had left. It was only me and mom, so no one saw me.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I nodded.

Mom tried to kiss my cheek but I managed to get away from her.

I mean, come on now! I'm fifteen! I didn't say that I don't like it when she kisses me, but not in front of people!

And it's even worse when it is like now, in front of people we don't even now!

Mom looked sad and I felt bad for a moment, but then I shook my head.

"Goodbye," mom said and waited some moments for a reply. When she didn't got it, she closed the door and left me outside with the Dumbledore man who had witnessed this scene withour talking at all..

"Come with me," he said kindly.

I hesitaded a little, but he had already started walking so I had to follow. We walked for a while and then, he looked around us and he said, "Grab my arm, and don't leave it."

For some moments I looked at his hand suspiciously, and then, slowly, I took it. Then suddenly, I felt like I had been in a small tube, I couldn't breath, I couldn't do nothing. After some moments, I could finally breath.

I took a long breath in, and then out to help me not to puke. It was awful.

"What was that," I said, a hand in my stomach.

"We just apparated. I'm impressed with you. Most people throw up at their first time."

"After living seven years in a family with three boys and only one more woman, I've learned to be taugh. I have not vomited since I was nine," I said.

Oh, yeah, it was true. The first one year with my step-dad, a 'father', who always hits my brothers when they do something wrong or bad (like a normal -really angry- father, the boys are the ones who are not normal), I've learned to be afraid that he will do the same with me one day. But after so many years living with him, he still hasn't.

Okay, the boys were the worst part, but I got over it after a while. With mom's help, of course.

"One woman. Your mother, I suppose?" Dumbledore asked. "You appreciate what she is doing for you?"

"Well, yes, if it wasn't her I wouldn't had survived with all those boys in the house."

"But you don't show it. A least, not with the right way," he said. My head, who was looking at the floor, snapped up at him. "You made her sad before, you know," he said.

I got over the shock pretty fast.

"What I am doing with my mother is non of your bussiness. Now, where are we supposed to go?"

He ignored my last sentense.

"You are angry with your father, your real father, the one you always wanted but you never met. And you burst out to her. She does not deserve it. She tried her best to make you happy, to raise you up, to help you feel welcome in your new family. But you are not showing that you appreciate her at all."

I listened to him, too shocked to response, and after I blinked sometimes, I asked him, "How do you know so many things about us?"

He smiled kindly. "I know many things about you and your family. I had been talking with your mother before you were even born."

I didn't replied; right then, I decided to look around me for the first time since we landed. I saw a lot of people, dressed like Dumbledore. Many of them had hats, and I saw many kids walking arround me.

"Vanessa, this is Diagon Alley," Dumbledore said.

"Diagon Alley?"

"A place where where wizards and witches buy everything they need. We are firts going to the Gringotts. It's a magical bank, the safest place in the world, after Hogwarts, of course."

"But I already have money," I protested, showing him the small bag with the money that mom had gi

I didn't say anything about it. When we reached the Grinkotts Bank and entered it, I noticed many strange-looking creatures.

"Goblins," Dumbledore said.

He took the bag with tthe money from my hands, and when I tried to get it back from him, he just shot me a look that was telling me to relax.

How could I relax! What he did was actually stealing from me! And we were in a bank!

Well, my stupid mind works really slowly, and by the time I had thought all of these, Dumbledore was already talking with one of the goblins.

I ran to him to take my money back, but he had already handed to the goblin the bag.

The goblin took out of the bag all the money and put some gold round things in it,

When we left (of course I insisted for that too, but he just ignored me), Dumbledore told me that those were wizard money.

"What, you thought that wizards use the same money with the Muggles?"

We went at almost every shop at Diagon Alley and purchased my things. My favorite of my new stuff was my wand. That man, Olivander, told me that I was a very easy customer.

"Like your father," he had said.

Dumbledore had laughed.

"You'll meet him at Hogwarts," he said.

He took me home, with apparation again, but it was a little, ONLY a little, better than first time.

He left me there. Mom told me to come in, and for the rest of the day I was thinking about what they had said for my father.

When I went to sleep, I was thinking how he could be. For the first time, I didn't felt the anger that I usually felt when I was thinking about him, but I felt a warm feeling inside of me.

I was going to meet my father.