It was evening when Nanoha and Fate returned together to the Leaky Cauldron. They entered laughing between one another and holding hands. Fate seemed to be more taken aback than Nanoha had been at the decor and complete lack of modern technology or stylings within the building. It only took a moment to locate where Dumbledore was waiting for them. He was seated near the end of one of the long tables running the length of the bar, a pair of place settings awaiting the two girls across the table from him. Nanoha and Fate took their places at the table as Dumbledore watched them with a knowing smile.

Once the two girls had situated themselves, Dumbledore spoke up, "Good evening young lady," he addressed Fate, "as I am sure your friend has told you, I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am sure that you must have questions for me."

"Thank you, headmaster. I am Fate Testarossa Harlaown. I am curious about the nature of your magic. Nanoha has told me that it's not just tricks, but she sometimes exaggerates things." She grinned at the annoyed expression Nanoha shot her. "I am intrigued by your invitation, but I cannot say that I am sure that I believe your claims." Fate tried to play off the conversation as naturally as she could through her accent, but had to admit to herself that she wasn't much better of an actress than Nanoha.

"Oh, I quite understand your misgivings. We go through no small amount of trouble to keep ourselves hidden from the muggle world." At Fate's questioning expression he explained, "'Muggle,' is the word which we use to refer to non-magical folk. Let us continue over dinner though, shall we?" he asked rhetorically as he waved his wand and food of types unfamiliar to either girl suddenly appeared on their plates. Fate and Nanoha both affected a bit of exagerated shock, though they were both honesty surprised at the application of magic.

"Wow, that was amazing!" exclaimed Fate. "What else can you do?" she asked, her voice overflowing with exuberance. She jumped slightly as Nanoha pinched her leg under the table.

[Fate-chan,] Nanoha gently chastised her, [you're overdoing it.]

"Is something wrong ladies?" Dumbledore asked, noticing that some sort of exchange had happened.

"Nyahaha, nothing is wrong. My friend gets overly excited sometimes."

They continued their meal, making light conversation while Dumbledore demonstrated some simple charms and transfigurations while answering any questions the pair had. His efforts to explore the history of the two girls didn't seem to turn up anything out of the ordinary, though he was sure that his earlier assessment of Nanoha must have been correct. She and Fate both carried themselves in a similar way, and both showed similar signs of intense physical training. The faded scars on both, more noticeable now with the candle light than they had been during the day, spoke of battle experience.

[It's interesting, isn't it Fate?] thought Nanoha during a lull in the conversation while Headmaster Dumbledore was obviously sizing them up. [Their magic doesn't seem to be as powerful as ours, but it is much more versatile.]

[Yes, I'd noticed the same thing. It seems that their spell mechanics are much simpler than ours, so they don't need sentient devices and they can cast quickly and repeatedly. I'm sure there must be more powerful spells than these ones though.]

Dumbledore answered all of their questions easily as conversation picked back up, surprising both of them when he informed them that there was no cost to attend the school other than the cost of school supplies. The justification being that untrained people with magical ability might become a danger to themselves and others. It was, reflected Nanoha, a reasonable measure, and probably the same reason that the TSAB allowed nine year old girls to work as contract mages. He gave a brief description of the history of the Wizarding World and of Hogwarts, which Nanoha made sure that Raising Heart was recording, and skirted around their questions about how certain locations in the two worlds overlapped.

As they finished eating, which didn't take very long owing to the impact of the relatively heavy English food on the girls' stomachs, Dumbledore gestured once again, clearing all of the plates. He gestured to Tom, the owner and firmly rebuffed Nanoha and Fate's attempts to help pay for the meal. "Now then, would you two be interested in visiting our school?" After the girls answered to the affirmative he went on, "Very well, you can either make the trip tomorrow with me, or on the train with the rest of our students in two days from now. It will leave from King's Cross Station at 11 a.m. sharp. I will not be able to meet you there, but I will send one of our professors in my stead.

"I think it would be nice to take the train and meet some of the students," replied Nanoha. [Not to mention it will give us a chance to get a feel for the society here for a day or two before we go,] she thought at Fate.

[Yes, that's probably the best plan, though I can't imagine that these people won't have anyone watching us. We'll need to be a bit cautious about communicating with the ship and doing our research.]

"Excuse me Professor," asked Fate, "will we need to bring any special supplies with us?"

"Yes, if you would like to try to participate in classes. You will be observing younger children than yourselves, as people normally begin magic school at ten or eleven years of age. I am sure we can work around your delayed start though, should you choose to attend." He reached into his sleeve and pulled out two folded pieces of parchment and handed one to each of the girls. "In these you will find lists of materials, as well as a ticket for the train. If you would like, I can take you shopping for some supplies now before all the shops in Diagon Alley close for the night."

Nanoha and Fate both opened their letters, carefully removing their tickets and scanning the list of supplies and the the letter of acceptance into the school. Nanoha finished reading first and spoke, "Yes, it would be most helpful if you could guide us. I do not know where we would find any of these items."

"Well then, if you are ready," he said, getting to his feet. The girls quickly stood and followed him out the back door of the tavern into a small walled in yard. Both watched closely as Dumbledore tapped a number of bricks in order and a doorway opened through the bricks. "After you," said Dumbledore as he gestured Nanoha and Fate through the archway. The area they passed into was bustling with activity. Nanoha looked about in amazement, spinning on her heel. Families quickly walked in various directions probably, thought Nanoha, doing last minute school shopping. There were sporadic causal demonstrations of magic, usually a parent levitating a dropped text book, or roping in a wandering child.

"If you'll follow me, we will start by going to Gringots to exchange some of your money for our currency. Then we'll be getting robes for the both of you. We can forgo the textbooks for now, until we know that you need them as they are the most expensive items. You may borrow copies or look on with your classmates while you are visiting." The shopping for robes, cauldrons, quill pens, and other miscellaneous items progressed rapidly until finally the group reached their final stop. A worn looking sign on the building identified it as Ollivander's.

The sign on the door indicated that the shop had closed just a few minutes earlier, and the shop keeper was bustling about inside, carrying armloads of long boxes. Dumbledore knocked on the door, and an elderly man, who Nanoha and Fate assumed was Ollivander, opened the door for them. "I'm very sorry to disturb you after your normal hours," began Dumbledore, "but we have a bit of a unique situation here. These girls are from overseas, apparently in an area not covered by one of the other magic academies. I found them when one of them managed to walk into the Leaky Cauldron."

Ollivander's eyes lit up, "Well, come in then, come in. It has been quite some time since I've had to fit a wand for an older student. He pulled a tape measure from his belt and went to Nanoha first. He quickly measured the length of her arm and circumference of her wrist, then dashed off to grab a batch of boxes. Opening the first one, he pulled out a short, tapered wand and placed it in Nanoha's hand. "Cherry, with a Unicorn hair core, nine and a half inches. Give it a wave young lady, see if it fits." Nanoha flicked the wand at the wall opposite where the group was standing. A vase on a pedestal flew off its stand and shattered on the floor. "Not to worry, young miss. Happens all the time," said Olivander at Nanoha's crestfallen expression. He pulled the first wand from her hand and gave her another. "Holly, with Dragon heartstring, eleven inches. Give it a try." Nanoha waved the wand and achieved a similarly disastrous result to her first attempt.

Ollivander was beginning to get excited. He seemed almost to fly from shelf to shelf as he pulled wand after wand for Nanoha to try. After half an hour, the inside of the store was in shambles. Wand boxes lay strewn about haphazardly, and the wall at which Nanoha had been aiming had been stripped down to bare brick. Ollivander seemed thrilled with the challenge, and ducked under the counter to pull out a very old looking chest. "Perhaps something more exotic would suit you, I picked up these wands all over the world while traveling. He carefully sorted through the boxes until he found what he was looking for. "Amboyna Burl, eleven and a half inches with a cat sidhe whisker core." Nanoha gave this one a wave and actually managed to blast a decent sized hole through the brick wall. "Hmm, no, I think not." Olivander once again rifled through the chest and pulled out another box. "Pink Ivory, with fur from a nine tailed fox, twelve and a half inches," he said as he handed over the curiously colored piece of wood.

As Nanoha's hand closed around the wand's handle she felt a sensation similar to that of activating Raising Heart flood through her. The wand, already a bright pink color marbled with white, was glowing softly. She waved the wand leaving a tracery of pink lines glowing in the air where the tip had traveled, which sparkled as they vanished. Olivander smiled, "It looks like we've finally struck a match." He once again pulled out his measuring tape as he turned his attention to Fate. The blonde girl had a much quicker time than her friend, hitting it on the third attempt with an ebony wand with a Phoenix feather core. Lightning crackled from the tip of her wand as she traced it through the air, intermingling jagged yellow lines with Nanoha's sparkling pink ones.

The two replaced their wands in their boxes and quickly paid for their purchases, leaving Olivander to clean his shop. Nanoha looked over her shoulder as they exited the store to see the nearly destroyed wall gradually repairing itself almost as though it were healing. She found herself stifling a yawn as Fate's fingers once again entwined with her own while they walked. The group came to a stop again in the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. "I am afraid I must leave you two for now," stated Dumbledore as the wall once again closed behind them, "I have some more business to attend to tonight. If you would prefer not to travel back to your hotel, Tom has some rooms upstairs which you can rent for the night." He smiled at the two girls, "Please be here at ten o'clock two days from now, one of the professors will be waiting here for you. I will see you when you arrive at school." The two girls wished him farewell and he quickly disapparated, leaving them alone in the courtyard.

"That was an interesting dimensional transfer spell," said Nanoha, reverting to speaking Japanese and probing the spot Dumbledore had just been standing in with the toe of her shoe, "a bit imprecise though. If I'm reading the magical signature correctly, you could accidentally manage to leave part of yourself behind if you're not concentrating hard enough."

Fate shuddered as she imagined that, "Still," she replied, "it takes a lot less energy than one of our dimensional transfer spells." She thought for a moment, "It's probably all they can manage without using intelligent devices. Dimensional transfer is fairly complicated without a device to sort out all of the mechanics." She was about to ask Nanoha what she thought the range of the spell was when they were interrupted by a transmission from the ship.

[I see you've managed to make it back alive and with a minimum of property damage,] came Chrono's voice in both of their heads. [Did you two have fun on your date?]

[Oh yes, we had a wonderful time,] replied Nanoha, pulling Fate close and grinning a bit as she watched her flush bright red. [We even got something for you while we were shopping. I'll show you when we get back to the ship.] The two girls laughed softly between recalling the packages of bizarrely named sweets now residing in Fate's bag.

"So should we go back to the ship now, or do you want to spend the night here?" asked Nanoha.

"Let's spend the night here. I'm sure we'll be monitored, and we don't want to draw more suspicion by vanishing and reappearing too often."

"Okay then, we'll buy some books and news papers tomorrow morning and go back to the ship to do our research. It'll be easier when we can use the ship's computers to scan and cross reference everything anyway, and I'm sure Shari would like to take a look at these wands."

The two walked back into the Leaky Cauldron and, after paying, were directed up a staircase to the side of the bar. The room they were assigned was much nicer than the bar downstairs would have led either of them to expect. The bed was a large four-post affair with a canopy, and the furniture was all made of polished hard wood. A cheery fire burned in the hearth, though there was no sign of any more wood stacked in the room to keep the fire going through the night.

[Ne, Fate-chan,] thought Nanoha as the two changed for bed. [What do you make of the technological level here?]

[It's weird. Even though regular society here is far behind Midchilda technologically, these people seem to be intentionally insulating themselves from technological advancements. It's not without precedent, but it seems...almost exagerated here. I'm sure we'll find out more if we can get some history books tomorrow...] Fate trailed off as she stared blankly at the oil lamp situated on the bedstand next to her.

Nanoha grinned and reached over, turning the little knob to lower the wick and dim the lamp. Interestingly, the fire in the grate seemed to read her intention and dimmed itself as well. Squirming her way under the covers she snuggled up against Fate, "Fate-chan, oyasumi."

"Oyasumi," replied Fate, whispering in Nanoha's ear before kissing her softly on the cheek and closing her eyes. Nanoha sighed contentedly, and even without looking, Fate could see the satisfied grin spreading across her girlfriend's face.

***

Headmaster Dumbledore sat for a moment in his office and considered his next course of action. The two girls must be members of some type of organization, but what did they want, and why were they here? It was bad enough that the ministry was passing legislation to start interfering with the school while at the same time denying the return of Lord Voldemort, but now it seemed some mysterious third party had appeared. Dumbledore quickly decided that he needed to find out who those two girls really were and who they were working for, and he needed to know very quickly.

Grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill, he started writing.

Minerva,

Please meet me tomorrow at nine o'clock at The Three Broomsticks. Urgent business to take care of.

~ Albus

He quickly rolled the letter and gave it to Fawkes to make sure it would reach its destination securely. He looked up at the ceiling of his office and sighed, this was a complication that he really did not need at the moment. He dared to hope that whoever these two girls were, whoever they were working for, they would not bring more power down on the side of the ministry or Lord Voldemort.