Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER! ANYTHING YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE IS MINE!

The next day was my birthday on July 1; my dad kept his promise about our picnic in the park and I finally beat him soccer! We went back to my house so I could take a shower then we went to my grandma's house for my annual birthday dinner. When we told my grandma that I would be going to a performing arts school in Scotland (I couldn't tell her that I'm a witch) she was sad because she wouldn't be seeing me every Sunday but she was thrilled because she thought that it was a good opportunity for me. The next day on Sunday Dumbledore kept his word about coming to take me and my dad to the place where I could get my supplies for school. But when he said how we were going to get there I was completely skeptical.

"A fireplace really? Please tell me you're joking" I said.

"I'm serious, we are going to use Floo Powder" Dumbledore said holding up a small jar that looked that it was filled with glitter and dirt, "This is what some witches and wizards use by means of transportation when the access of broomstick or Apparition is out of reach."

"Apparition?" I asked curiously.

"An advanced transportation spells only fully trained wizards and witches are able to use it" Dumbledore answered, "Now Ms. Rivera you will go first, you will arrive at the Leaky Cauldron, the owner Tom will let you wait for us there. I need to prepare your father for the Floo Network, not plenty of Muggles could use it"

"Okay" I said and packed a little purse with my MP3 player and a book just in case if I need to wait for a while. I gave my dad a hug before I stepped into the fireplace. I grabbed a handful of Floo Powder as Dumbledore gave me instructions.

"Now it is quite simple, my dear. First you must stand in the fireplace say the name of the place you wish to arrive at, which in this case would be a place known as the Leaky Cauldron. Then you must throw the Floo Powder down and emerald flames will appear. Do not worry the flames won't hurt you they are only for show"

I did as Dumbledore said and threw the powder down as I said the location I wanted to go to. I closed my eyes as the emerald flames appeared and didn't feel a thing as they enveloped me to my next location. I opened my eyes to find this sort of bar or as people say in England a pub. I thought that this must be the Leaky Cauldron, I saw some people sat in the wooden chairs surrounding small circular tables, sipping at steaming mugs and eating their eggs and toast. Most of the light source came from the dozen or so candles that sat on the tables and along the bar. The only thing that differed from an average bar was everybody was dressed in long robes and other similar outfits. I looked down at my blue jeans, purple graphic t-shirt, and converse high tops and I knew that I was out of place.

"Well hello, my dear" someone said, when I looked up to see who it was I saw a bald man who was standing behind the bar, wiping at a glass with his towel. "Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron, my dear. Where did you come from?"

"Los Angeles" I replied shyly, "Um… Dumbledore told me to wait here for him"

"So you must be Ms. Rivera, am I right?" the older man asked and I nodded, "Well then, by all means, come here! My name is Tom, by the way, and I'm the keeper of the Leaky Cauldron. Now, how about a nice cup of hot chocolate? On the house!" I couldn't help but smile at the older gentleman's chipper mood and I sat down on a stool as Tom placed a white tea cup in front of me. I thanked Tom and smiled at him as I drink the rich chocolateness which I loved! (Did I mention that I was a chocolate freak?) Tom smiled in return and suddenly all the window shutters opened and let in the warm summer breeze.

I heard a loud roar coming from the fireplace, I turned to find my dad coughing and whipping the soot from his clothes. I giggled at my dad shook the soot from his hair.

"Had a nice trip, papá?" I giggled some more.

"Very funny" My dad chuckled sarcastically.


Diagon Alley was awesome! There were so many stores behind the courtyard of the Leaky Cauldron. I looked up the tiny street and read the various signs that hung in front of the stores. 'Ollivander's', 'Apothecary', 'Florish and Blott's', and so much more!

"We need to head to Gringotts first" Dumbledore informed us, "Your mother has left money for you before she died knowing that you would attend Hogwarts in the near future"

We walked into a building that reminded me of old bank buildings that I've read in my history books. Inside the walls were white and bronze. We walked up to a strange looking creature that was shorter that I was. I cringed at how creepy I thought that they were.

"Goblins" Dumbledore whispered to me, "Not to worry they're harmless"

I nodded as I held onto my father's hand as we walked up to the goblin behind a tall desk.

"These people would like to take some money out of volt 415" Dumbledore told the goblin.

The goblin looked at us with a strange stare, "Do you have the key?"

Dumbledore handed the goblin a very old key that he got from his robes.

"Follow me" The goblin said.

The goblin showed us to some sort of cart that reminded me of a roller coaster ride at the park. Once we got in the cart moved passed the various volts they had here. It stopped at the volt that said 415 just like what Dumbledore had told the goblin before. We got out of the cart and the goblin had us stand back as he opened the volt. Once it opened it revealed GOLD! My mouth flew open and I knew that my dad's did as well.

"This is all for me?" I asked Dumbledore.

"Yes indeed" Dumbledore pulled out a small sack from his robe and started to fill it with gold, silver and bronze coins. He handed the sack to me and explained to me wait each coin was which. We rode back up to the lobby and once we walked out of the bank Dumbledore turned to face me and my dad.

"This is where I must leave you" Dumbledore told us, "I have some business to take care of. Here, this will be your way home" Dumbledore handed me the jar of Floo Powder and in an instant he was gone in the crowd.

"So, where do you want do go first?" My dad asked me.

"Hmmm…. Well what's first on the list?" I asked back.

My dad read off the letter:

Uniform

Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)

One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wear

One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all students' clothes should carry name-tags.

Books

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 of glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set of 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.

"Okay we'll get my books last so you don't have to carry them around all day, so I guess we could go get my uniform first"

"Smart thinking now where would we go for your uniform?" My dad looked all around the tiny street to find a sign.

"Uh, dad" I called him and I pointed to the sign above us that said Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

"Oh" My dad gave out an embarrass chuckle, "Let's go have a look then"

We walked into the shop and old witch who I assumed to be Madam Malkin. The witch turned to me and smiled.

"Hello dear" Madam Malkin said, "First year at Hogwarts are you?"

I nodded, "Yes ma'am"

"Okay dearie, stand right here and I'll get you measured" Madam Malkin motioned to the stool next to her.

I did as she said and my dad left the store to go and get us some ice cream. As Madam Malkin slipped a long black robe over my head and she started to take my measurements. It didn't take long for her to patch me up, I paid for the uniform with the coins that Dumbledore gave me. I walked outside and my dad handed me a chocolate cone and he had a vanilla one. We sat outside the Ice Cream Parlor to finish our ice cream. Once we finished we went to all of the other stores to get my other equipment except my wand. We went to the store called Ollivander's, the store seemed vacant, I looked at my dad with a questionable face, looked at me with the same face.

"Hello there" an old man came from behind a shelve full of small boxes, "Looking for a wand?"

"Yes please" I told the man who I assumed to be Ollivander.

"Hmmm… let's see" Ollivander said looking through different boxes and pulled out one and blew off the dust from the box and opened it, "10 ½ inches, wormwood and a strand of unicorn tail"

Ollivander handed me the wand and told me to flick it, when I did a spark shot out and went berserk in the store. Ollivander took the wand away from me and went to look for more. We tried about 20 more wands and we were in the store for what felt like hours but in reality it was only an hour and a half. Ollivander looked like he was going to give up until his moon-like eyes lit up as he went to the back of the store and came out with four boxes. He opened one of them and handed me the wand, I flicked it but nothing happened. Ollivander gave me another wand but it didn't have any affect at all. He gave me another one but just like the others nothing happened. I heard Ollivander give out a deep sigh as he gave me the last wand. It felt like wind came around me and my blood started to flow faster. I looked at Ollivander to see his reaction but he just looked at me with his eyes open.

"Unbelievable" Ollivander said.

"What is it? Is it something bad?" I started panicking until my dad calmed me down.

"You are the heir of Gryffindor" Ollivander said and looked at me in amazement, "This is incredible"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"It seems that you have found your wand" Was all Ollivander said, "This is the wand of Godric Gryffindor, one of the founder of Hogwarts, and one of the greatest wizards that ever lived"

I looked at my dad but I knew that he was just as clueless as I was. So with that we just paid for the wand and left the store. We went to the book store Florish and Blott's it was crowded a bit my dad told me that he'll wait in the back of the store while I got my books

"Hello" The red headed boy said to me, "Are you a first year too?"

I nodded sweetly, "Yeah, and you?"

"Same, mum and dad wanted to get my stuff early so that way it wouldn't be too crowded" The red headed boy extended his hand for a shake, "I'm Ronald Weasley but you could call me Ron"

"Marcela Rivera but you could call me Marcy" I shook Ron's hand and smiled.

"So, Marcy, are you familiar with magic?"

"No, I just found out about it two days ago"

"So you're a Muggle-born?"

"No, I'm a half-blood, according to Dumbledore"

"You meet Dumbledore in person!"

"Yeah, hasn't everyone?"

"Well I haven't but I will once I get to Hogwarts"

"He seems like an alright guy but he has just a craving for lemon drops"

Ron laughed, "That's interesting, so since you're a half-blood which side do to you have wizard blood from?"

"My mom's side but she never told me that she was a witch"

"Is she here now?"

"No, she died two years ago, my dad came with me" I frowned.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to pry"

"It's okay Ron" I smiled at my new friend.

"Here are your books" The manager handed me my books; my dad came from behind me and took my books.

"Are you done?" My dad asked me.

"Yeah" I told him, "Papá, this is my new friend Ron"

"It's nice to meet you sir" Ron said extending his hands for a shake.

"It's nice to meet you too, Ron, are you parents here with you?" My dad asked and shook Ron's hand.

Ron grabbed his new transfiguration book and put it in his cauldron, "Yes, my parents went to get my brother an owl for being a prefect"

The bell rang from the store door. There was a balding red headed man that looked like Ron. And I guessed right when the man smiled at Ron.

"Did you get your book yet, Ron?" The man asked Ron.

"Just did, dad" Ron told him, "Dad this is Marcy and her dad. Marcy is going to be a first year too"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Arthur Weasley" Mr. Weasley extended his hand for a shake.

"Mucho gusto, I'm Rafael" My dad shook Mr. Weasley's hand.

"You must be from Mexico am I right?" Mr. Weasley asked my dad.

"Yes, but we currently live in Los Angeles in America" My dad answered.

"You must be a Muggle; oh you must tell me all about life in the big city"

"What is up with your dad?" I whispered to Ron.

"My dad loves Muggles, he works for the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office" Ron said.

"Oh I see that's why you dad was all excited when he found out my dad was a Muggle" I said.

"Marcela, we need to go get your pet before we go home" My dad told me.

"Okay, papá" I said and turned back to Ron, "It was nice to meet you Ron, see you in September"

"See you!" Ron called out as my dad and I left the shop.

"So which pet do you want, a toad?" My dad asked.

I made a face in disgust, "EW, definitely not. Who do you think I am Tío Juan?"

"All right, all right, then how about a cat?"

"I'm a dog lover not a cat lover"

"Then that leaves an owl"

"Yay! Let's go get me an owl!"

My dad chuckled as we walked to Eeylops Owl Emporium. We stopped at the front of the store when I saw a lot of the owls in front of the store. We walked into the store to reveal more owls. I saw two witches behind the counter nurturing an owl when one of them saw me.

"Hello, can I help you?" The witch asked me.

"I'm here to buy an owl" I said.

"Of course!" The other witch exclaimed, "Which owl do you want?"

"We have the brown owl, barn owl, snowy owl, tawny owl, and the screech owl. Which one do you want?" The first witch asked me.

"Umm…." I stammered and searched all around the store until my eyes caught sight of a beautiful light brown own with a white face and stomach and beady black eyes, "I want that one" I pointed to the owl I was looking at.

"Ah, the barn owl, she's a beauty isn't she?" The second witch said as the first witch grabbed the cage and handed the owl to me while the second witch gave my dad the owl food. We paid for my owl and her food and we left the store with me still gawking at my owl. My dad chuckled at the look on my face.

"What are going to name her?" My dad asked me.

"Karima" I answered, "It's the girl version of Karim in Arabic which means noble"

"That's beautiful" My dad said and held out the jar of Floo Powder, "Let's go home"

(A/N: AND CUT! There was chapter 2! I'm happy for the follows and the favorite but I mean c'mon people! A girl needs more inspiration than that! So please review! I really want to know your opinions! Okay so I decided for her to befriend Ron because instead of having Marcela befriend Hermione seems to cliché. See y'all next time for chapter 3! :D)