Chapter 2
Ten minutes later Conor's mom, Maashes, and Conor walked into a run down old pub called the Leaky Cauldron. They briefly greeted Tom, the ancient bartender and walked out of the back. The boys were surprised to see Mary and Ruthie already standing there, trying to get through. Conor laughed and said, "So how long have you two been standing here?" Ruthie said, "Maybe like 5 minutes, Mary's parents left but not before they gave us money. I don't know if our money works here." Conor's mom said, "It doesn't but I've got plenty of gold to help all of you." She walked up to the walk and tapped certain bricks in an orderly way. Suddenly, to the amazement of the group of friends, the bricks began to shift and soon there was an archway where the wall once stood. The four burst out into the sunshine and stood amazed at the sight. Off in the distance they could see an enormous white marble building with 'Gringotts' in gold lettering. Near them they saw 'Eyelops Owl Emporium' and Ollivander's Wand shop. Upon spotting the latter shop the kids all begged to go into it. Conor's mother agreed and they entered, the door jingling as they walked. Upon entering they noticed that there was another boy there, he was quite chubby and had brown hair and blue eyes. After a minute they recognized him. Ruthie screamed, "Ross!" The chubby boy looked up and smiled. He said, "Hey guys! Conor, Ruthie, Mary, Maashes. You guys got accepted to Hogwarts too? That's awesome! I just bought a wand 13 inches, pine and phoenix feather." The other's wowed at this news and waved Ross goodbye as he left the shop with his mother and father. They friends jostled to see who would be first to the counter and it ended up ordered as such: Conor, Maashes, Ruthie, and then Mary. Conor walked up and tapped the bell on the counter, he waited and then an old man rolled into sight on a ladder.
Conor said, "Are you Ollivander?" The old man nodded and stepped down. He had silver eyes but they we're bright with happiness. He said, "You must be a new student at Hogwarts. Here for your first wand. Come, let me get your measurements. He pulled out a tape measure and it started measuring Conor's arm lengths by itself. When it was done Ollivander looked at it and said, "Hmm…How about…" He whisked away and came back holding a thin box. He took out the wand and gave it to Conor. He said, "11 inches blackthorn, with a dragon heartstring core. Give it a wave!" Conor waved the wand around and flower petals burst out of the end. Everybody clapped and Ollivander took the wand and put it back in its box, then giving it to Conor's mother. Next, he measured Maashes and again, disappeared behind the high shelves in his shop. He returned with another box, took out the wand and handed it to Maashes. He said, "13 inches, maple, with a phoenix feather core." Maashes waved the wand as Conor had done and green sparks showered everybody. Again, people clapped and the wand was repackaged and handed to Conor's mother. Ruthie stepped up to the counter next, after getting her measurements, Ollivander returned with another box and said, "Hmm…This one may be tricky. Here, try this. 12 inches, Oak, with a unicorn hair core." Ruthie took the wand and twirled it. Several white birds flew out of the end and around the shop and disappeared in puffs of white smoke. Everybody cheered and laughed and again the wand was given to Conor's mother. Finally, it was Mary's turn. She stepped up and Ollivander measured her, he came back and gave her a wand. He said, " 11 and ½ inches, birch, with a unicorn hair. Mary flicked it and the chairs in the shop began to dance around the room. Everybody laughed and all the wands were paid for, and the group left the store.
Everybody got their wands from Conor's mom and began to play with them. Everybody agreed that Conor's wand was the coolest looking, it was black and thin, with a gold ring at the base. They made sparks fly out of the end as well as other random occurrences. Once Ruthie waved hers and a tiger jumped from the end, it turned to look at them and all of the kids stood still with fear. It opened it's mouth and Mary whimpered with fear. But then it barked, and everybody began to laugh and then it melted away into a puddle of water, which they were all surprised at. After looking around at all of the stores they then moved to Madam Malkins Robe Shop. There, the kids were each fitted for robes. Maashes was the tallest and had to keep going up in sizes until he found ones that were not above his ankles. Everybody happily left the shop with several robes each. Conor's mom just kept puling gold out of her magically enlarged bag and handing it to vendors for their items. The last thing they needed, was more of a commodity really, were owls. Conor was allergic to birds, so he decided to go get ice cream with his mom while the rest shopped. Inside, Ruthie said, "Guys look at that one! She pointed at a beautiful barn own with hazel eyes. It blinked and looked at them. They moved around the store some more until Mary exclaimed, "Over there! That one is so cute!" She pointed to a small black owl, it hooted softly and clicked its beak. Then, finally Maashes wandered about and found a large eagle owl that he liked. He beckoned his friends over and said, "That one is awesome! Look at its beak, its so kick ass!" They all goggled at it and it ruffled its feathers and stared at them. Hurrying out of the store, they found Conor and his mom eating ice cream lazily at Fortescue's. After begging for ice cream themselves, they led her back to the store and purchased the three owls. Mary immediately named hers Harry, after the famous wizard who had defeated Lord Voldemort several years earlier. Ruthie named hers Thorn and Maashes named his Strix.
A few minutes later, the sun began to fall and the troupe became tired. Conor said, "Mom, I'm tired. I really need to go relax." Ruthie said, "Yeah, me too. This day has been so exciting, but I'm pretty worn out." The others nodded in agreement. Conor's mom took them back to the Leaky Cauldron where she got three rooms: One for Mary and Ruthie, one for herself, and one for Maashes and Conor. After Conor's mom gave brought each of them their trunks, wands, and owls, she went off to bed in her own room. As soon as Maashes brought Strix into the room Conor began to sneeze. He said, "Dude! Take that thing out!" Maashes walked downstairs and said to Strix, "Now you come back before tomorrow morning okay?" Strix looked at Maashes in a way that showed that he understood. Maashes opened the cage and Strix soared majestically out into the warm night. He closed the large cage and walked over to the bar, where Tom was snoring. He tapped on the counter gingerly but Tom jerked awake and smiled. He said, "What can I do for you son?" Maashes said, "My eagle owl, Strix is coming back sometime tonight. You will let him in, wont you?" Tom nodded and Maashes left the cage with him, he trooped back upstairs and to his room. He mumbled Conor a goodnight and then went to change into sleep clothes. After that, he returned and flopped onto the bed, the days excitements streaming out into his dreams.