Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Harry Potter.

Spoilers: Only of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Author's Note: You will get the Doctor in the next chapter. I think you have enough to feed on for now.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Sam,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

The little boy, Sam, stared in wonder at the letter. How could he have been magical? If there was anyone magical, it was his friend, Harry Potter. Sam had helped him escape the Dursley gang at school many times before, but he was just a helper. Was Harry going? He couldn't wait to tell him, but Harry was not allowed out for a month. What they did to him there, Sam hadn't the foggiest idea. Luckily when the Dursleys went on holiday Harry went to stay at Sam's, or Mrs Figg's. Those were the happiest days of their lives – they went on trips to London or somewhere else. They dutifully avoided all the dodgy places, like that pub on Charing Cross Road that everyone else ignored, but enjoyed themselves in the parks and museums. He looked out of the window at Number Four, Privet Drive. Suddenly he looked closely. Was that – an OWL?

"Students may bring an owl..." the voice in his head said.

As he watched, the owl dropped a letter and flew off.

It had been two weeks since he had got the letter. He had asked Mrs Bruton and Mrs Somerset for permission to go to London to get the things. He had told the witch who had come to explain that he was good at taking trips into London to get things with his friend Harry Potter, and she had relaxed visibly after that. However Harry still had not got permission to go and the owls were flocking there daily, in even greater numbers. If Harry did not answer within three days, then he wasn't going to go... and then what would he do without his greatest friend? Sam was shocked out of his reverie by the noise of a car starting up. It was coming from Privet Drive. Through a gap in the houses he watched the car turn out of the drive and go up the road. It was the Dursleys'.

Two days later, Sam was walking down Privet Drive to sit outside his friend's house. He had just reached the wall when he saw a giant walking up the road. Somehow knowing that this giant was no ordinary Muggle, he ran up to the giant and said hello.

"Oh, hello."

"Are you a wizard?"

"Sssssssh! Keep yer voice down!" This came from the giant.

"Sorry."

"All right. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. I was lookin' fer Harry Potter. Do yeh know where he is?"

"The Dursleys drove off two days ago, and Harry has gone with them," replied Sam, "I was going to get my things with him in London, but he hasn't left Privet Drive for more than two weeks, and now he'll never go there," he finished sadly.

Hagrid patted him on the head and then proceeded to withdraw a pink umbrella. He tapped the door and then went in. Sam followed carefully as Hagrid made his way into the living room and scrutinized the map on the table. Satisfied, he walked straight back the way he had come, and then went to Magnolia Crescent to get permission to take him out for the day and the next. After packing some clothes, Hagrid motioned for Sam to take his arm. Sam did take it, and in a moment, the life was being crushed out of him. He tried to let go, but then the pressure was released, and he turned to the giant.

"What was that?" he said weakly, and then asked another question as he noticed the surroundings. "Where are we?"

Hagrid proudly announced, "Railview Hotel, Cokeworth. Now where is he?"

After going into the hotel and having a conversation with a very confused hotel manager, Hagrid moved out of the hotel and told Sam that Harry was no longer there. They then received an owl from Dumbledore letting them know that Harry was currently residing in a hut on a rock off the East Coast near Mablethorpe.

"Coulda told me tha'," Hagrid said, and they crushed themselves to Mablethorpe near the coast. There Hagrid and Sam went to a hotel, where they ate, and then Hagrid bought Sam a room while he left the hotel to get over to the Hut on the Rock. Sam then went to sleep happily, knowing something was right with the world.

He woke up early in the morning to see an owl take flight from the Hut on the Rock. Knowing that this could only be something good, he dressed quickly in his clothes, which he packed the day before. Taking his key, packing his suitcase and dragging it down the stairs, he left it with the hotel porter and proceeded to devour a delicious meal, at the same time deciding to tell Mrs Somerset that he had gone to the seaside. He was interrupted halfway through by Hagrid and a very happy Harry, who told him the news. Sam chose not to spoil it by the fact he knew the news already and instead told his friend what he had heard. Then they caught the next train down to London, chatting about wizards, owls, wands and whether they would be able to fly. Hagrid looked down at them, glad to see they were really friends.

After an embarrassing experience in the London Underground, they finally reached the dodgy pub on Charing Cross Road, which turned out to be a wizarding hub. Hagrid declined a drink from Tom the barman, and consequently Harry was recognised. Sam stared in surprise as person after person moved to greet Harry. He would have to find out why later, but it seemed Harry did not know why either. They also met Professor Quirrell, a teacher who stuttered overly.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you."

"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"

"D-Defense against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter." He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose. I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified, Sam thought, and didn't pay anyone else any notice at all. Sam felt a presence behind the turban, but dismissed the notion immediately. This was his teacher! This was how he would learn magic! Finally Hagrid managed to get everyone off Harry and they progressed out of the back door.

"Told yeh, didn't I. Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin'." "Is he always that nervous?" "Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag - never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject, now, where's me umbrella."

Hagrid drew his pink umbrella, Sam flinching as he did so. Hagrid tapped a brick, muttering, and the wall drew apart. Harry gasped, Sam also.

"This," Hagrid said, "is Diagon Alley." As they walked down the street Sam looked everywhere; at the cauldron shops, at the stalls erected either side of the street, and at the crowds of people talking about things he had never heard of.

"...the fastest racing broom in the world!"

"...seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."

Finally they came to a large marble building around halfway down the street. It had a sign above its great doors, saying Gringotts. Inside the building there were creatures doling out and giving back large golden coins.

"Yeah, that's a goblin." Hagrid seemed to dismiss them as he walked past but they were just as interesting as the rest of the wizarding world.

"Morning," said Hagrid to a goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."

"Do you have his key?"

"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid. He rummaged around in his pockets and finally found it. Sam looked at it in amazement, and became momentarily jealous of Harry. Shaking his feelings off, he watched Hagrid murmur to the goblin about something in vault 713, and the two of them marched off with a goblin named Griphook. Sam stepped up to the counter.

"Excuse me, I don't have any money on me and I'd like to know whether my parents left me any. I don't know who they were either, as my father died a year after I was born and my mother abandoned me. I think they were wizarding, as I have a vague memory of this place."

The goblin scrutinised him for a moment, and then called for a goblin. "Gornuk!" Gornuk came up to his side and the goblin said, "I think you might like to talk to this one."

Gornuk directed Sam to a pair of double doors marked "Private – Authorised Entry Only". He led Sam inside and closed the doors. Sam saw the walls were thick and soundproof, and then sat down on a chair in front of a desk.

"I think you might like to know why we have called you to a private consultation room. We do not normally do this, but we think the secrets of your birth parents should be kept hidden. They may cause distress to other people." Gornuk finished his sentence, looking intently at the boy.

"I'd then like to know who they are, and a bit about them. However, I will respect your wishes of privacy and will only tell anyone who I think should know." Sam was surprised at the way he had just spoken.

Over the next hour, Sam learnt of who his parents were, and a little about what they had done. He realised the goblin's wishes of secrecy, and when Hagrid came up from the vaults, asking to know where he was, Sam asked him and Harry to wait for some time while he finished the discussion. At the end his head was reeling.

"Your mother co-owned a high security vault down below. I will allow you to take whatever money you see fit from there." Gornuk led the boy out and took him down to the vault, where Sam was surprised to see many coins, more than he would ever have expected. He took out what he wished, converted some to Muggle money, and then went outside with Hagrid and Harry.

They bought robes, books, a cauldron, scales, a telescope, crystal phials, a hat, and gloves each. Sam barely noticed the blond haired boy in Madam Malkin's for All Occasions, and only came to when they reached Eeylop's Owl Emporium. There he bought an eagle-owl, which he named Telrus. They walked over the road to a small shop, labelled Ollivander's – Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. and walked in.

"Ah, I was wondering when I'd be seeing you, Mr. Potter. It seems only yesterday that your mother and father were in here buying their first wands." A tape measure moved to measure him as Harry began to try wands, most of which did not touch his hand before they were declared the wrong one. Finally, Mr Ollivander took out the last two wands. Harry took the first of the two, and the whole room seemed to fill with electricity as Harry brought the wand down, sending red and gold sparks out of the end. Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious..."

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?" Mr. Ollivander looked directly at Harry.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar." Harry gulped visibly.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter... After all, He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great." Mr. Ollivander took seven Galleons for the wand, and Harry sat down by Hagrid as Sam stood up to take his place. This time, Mr. Ollivander looked straight at him.

"Now this is surprising. I've been told not to tell anyone who you are. I believe only the goblins and I know, because only we have served your parents when they came around and can see the resemblance. Do you know by now?" Sam nodded, going pale at the thought of them. Mr. Ollivander relaxed, and the tape measure began once again to do its job. Sam looked around at the shelves, and at the pile of tried wands. Mr. Ollivander took the wand that had not yet been tried, and handed it over. Immediately, Sam knew it was his wand. He waved it and the box on Ollivander's desk closed with a snap. Sam was pleased that he didn't have to trawl through the wands, while Harry looked envious as he had to try the whole shop.

"Ivy and phoenix ashes, twelve inches. I don't normally use phoenix ashes, as they are very difficult to come by. However the phoenix that gave me your feather (he pointed at Harry), also donated a set of ashes to Ollivander's." Harry looked at Sam, his face unreadable. "I wonder... I wonder..."

When they had both left the shop, Sam having paid ten Galleons for such a rare wand, they took the tube back to Waterloo, and then took a snack. Harry was given his ticket for Platform 9¾.

"Do I have a ticket, Hagrid?" This came from Sam.

"I expect they'll send yeh one in the post. They usually do. I wasn't expectin' you ter come along, so I don't have your ticket with me." Relieved, Sam sat back into his chair. They boarded the train to Little Whinging, and as it moved away, they tried to get a glimpse of Hagrid, but he had disappeared.

"So, who were your parents?" Harry asked.

Sam looked at him, paling again. "I-I don't feel like saying. It was such a revelation that I can't tell anyone just yet." Harry could tell his friend really wanted this kept private, so he dropped it.

Author's Note: Please review! However, if ANYONE thinks they know who Sam's parents are, PM me. I'd rather this did not come out. Spoilers!