In the few weeks that passed Sakura, Tomoyo, Shaoran and even Kero succeeded in learning so much English that they were practically as fluent as Eriol; but Sakura and Kero still carried strong Japanese accents whilst Tomoyo and Shaoran had managed to get round the pronunciation. Then, in late August, Eriol had some news for them.
"We will be going to Diagon Alley tomorrow!" He told them, leaving out abbreviations to help them understand.
"Where?!?" Sakura and Shaoran asked him in surprise.
"Daigon Alley." Eriol repeated. "That is where we will get all the stuff needed at Hogwarts, but their money is different to Japanese and English, so we will need to swap it!" They were thankful for this explanation but were also a bit worried about the situation with exchange rates.
Later, as the sun was setting, Sakura busied herself with packing all she would not require for the night and next morning, as she started packing her clothes she heard a knock on the door.
"Hai? I mean 'Yes'?" She called out, the door opened to reveal Ms. Mizuki.
"Sakura-san, a word of advice. Watch out for students in the house of Slytherin at Hogwarts!" She advised her, Sakura was bewildered though.
"Why?" She asked, Ms. Mizuki sighed and explained.
"They are not the friendliest of students; some have a bad view on wizards and witches who have muggle parents!" Sakura was starting to get the idea, but she was still a bit confused.
"Muggle?" She repeated in bewilderment.
"Non-magical people," Ms. Mizuki explained, "Slytherin students also cheat a lot and often try to get others in trouble! Believe me, I know!" Those last few words suddenly struck Sakura like a lightning bolt.
"Mizuki-san, YOU went to Hogwarts?!?" She asked in surprise.
"Hai, but I was a transfer student at a Japanese school of magic in my fifth year." The irony of the situation didn't take long to sink into the both of them.
The next day all four of them were packed up and ready to go, Sakura had found a more discreet way of keeping Kero out of sight than the shoebox she brought from Japan. Ms. Mizuki had brought the limo out to take them within suitable walking distance of the Leaky Cauldron.
"Ki o tsukeru." Take care Eriol said in farewell to Kaho Mizuki before he led Sakura's group into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Ah, greetings youn' sir!" The barkeeper greeted as Eriol approached him. "Cannai offer you a quick one?" The meaning of 'quick one' was lost to the Oriental trio, who weren't much good with slang.
"No, thank you." Eriol calmly replied. "The four of us are here on business." The barkeeper caught on quick, but he was puzzled.
"Yer'all seem a bit youn' to start 'ogwarts now!" He informed them, however Eriol had a good reply to that statement.
"We're transfer students!" He told the barkeeper, who nodded and gestured towards a small doorway behind the bar. Eriol indicated to the others to follow him and passed through the doorway.
Sakura's group found themselves standing in a small, grey yard, apparently fruitless. Just then Eriol took out his Clow key and summoned his staff; after which he tapped a sequence on a brick wall. Sakura's group were amazed as the bricks started to shift left and right, while Eriol returned his staff to it's key form.
"Welcome," He spoke to the trio, "To Diagon Alley!" Sakura and Tomoyo were in awe of the old-style street that stretched ahead of them, filled with the buzz of a marketplace; Shaoran only showed mild surprise at such hustle and bustle revealed from what was a bland little corner of a yard.
"That tall building at the back," Eriol indicated to them, "Is the wizard bank, called Gringott's! That is where we get the money for purchasing what we need in the world of wizards. This is because wizard money is of a more traditional style than British money!" He led them through the thrall of wizards and witches seeking their supplies.
Upon entering the bank Sakura became on edge.
"Eriol-kun," She asked him, "Nani kono mono?" What are these things? Eriol just smiled calmly as usual and replied.
"Goblins! They aren't very friendly, but they are trustworthy! That's why they work here!" He led them up to one of the counters. "Excuse me," He greeted the goblin there, "But Miss Daijoudi here," He indicated Tomoyo, "Would like to exchange some money!" The goblin looked unsympathetically at Tomoyo and stated.
"How much would she like to exchange?" Tomoyo cautiously took a few bundles of notes worth thousands, if not millions, of Yen; she gingerly handed them to the goblin who steadily removed them from her grasp and weighed them on a pair of magical scales indicating their worth in wizard money.
"Daijoudi-san, machimasu koko-koto ga dekimasu ka?" Miss Daijoudi, can you wait here? Eriol asked her, Tomoyo hesitated for a while before timidly replying affirmatively. Eriol indicated for Sakura and Shaoran to follow him to another counter.
"Pardon me," He greeted the goblin at the other counter, "But us three request a withdrawal!" Once again the goblin observed them with no positive emotions whatsoever and asked.
"Do you have your keys?" Sakura was a bit confused, but Eriol just winked at her and took his Clow key out; she understood and took out her own key, Shaoran had already had his key in hand, given to him by his mother.
They were led deep into the vaults of the bank on a vehicle similar to a mining cart, it made it's first stop with the goblin announcing it as 'Vault 301' (once belonging to a distant relative of the Li clan). This was Shaoran's vault, he handed his key to the goblin (neither showing any emotion) who opened the vault with it revealing quite a substantial amount of gold coins. Being highly economical in his disposition, Shaoran only took two handfuls, believing them to be enough.
The following vault was Eriol's, previously used by Clow Read himself 'Vault 52'. When the door was opened a few gold coins spilled out, giving Shaoran and Sakura some idea of the quantity in the vault itself. Eriol conscientiously claimed the coins that had been spilt and a few bags full of what was still in the vault (not literally).
Sakura's vault was right next door as 'Vault 53', upon the door was an inscription in Japanese kanji which translated as 'Heir to my cards, make good use of the contents of this vault! Clow Read.' Feeling indebted to this message, Sakura made sure she would only take a small percentage of the contents. Upon opening the vault, however, Sakura was stunned, right before her was a landscape of gold coins stretching deep into the earth. This reassured Sakura and she took quite a bit and even that didn't make 1 of the contents.
By the time they returned to Tomoyo she was on edge, having received her exchange and waiting for them while surrounded by goblins; this meant that they had to hurry to keep up with her, even with Eriol pleading for her to stop, but she was too distressed. Upon going through the doors of the bank she bumped into a red-haired boy who was talking to a boy and a girl just outside.
"Gomen·nasai!" Sorry! She apologised without thinking, she held out her hand to help him up.
"You're new here, aren't you?" The other boy asked.
"You could call us transfer students." Sakura answered as she descended the steps from the bank, just then she noticed an unusual feature in this boy, he had an odd-shaped scar on his forehead. 'It's like a lightning bolt!' Sakura's mind said.
"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves." The boy replied. "I'm sure you already know who I am!" Sakura shook her head in indication that she had no idea; this surprised the boys and the girl.
"Surely you must've heard of the boy who lived!" The girl commented carrying the certainty that everyone in the wizarding world did.
"Īe." No. Sakura replied, but the three others had no concept of it's meaning.
"Well," The red-haired boy commented, "It seems clear they don't know, let's move on. My name's Weasley, Ron Weasley!"
"Hm," Murmured the girl in agreement, "I am Hermione Granger!"
"I'm Harry," The last boy replied, "Harry Potter!" There was still no shock or amazement on the faces of Sakura and her friends, Sakura just bowed in greeting as she answered.
"I am Sakura, Kinomoto Sakura!" Now Harry's group were dumbfounded.
"She means she's Sakura Kinomoto," Eriol commented, "My name's Eriol Hiiragizawa."
"My name is Daijoudi, Daijoudi Tomoyo!"
"I assume you mean 'Tomoyo Daijoudi'!" Hermione commented, notifying which name sounded more like a surname.
"This," Eriol added, indicating Shaoran, "Is Shaoran Li!" Shaoran simply grunted while Sakura and Tomoyo bowed. Harry's group were bewildered by them bowing.
"Why do you keep bowing?" Ron asked them, Hermione nudged him, believing it was rude of him to ask that.
"Sakura and Miss Daijoudi are from Japan," Eriol replied, "It is normal to bow in greeting over there!"
"Just a minute!" Sakura cried out. "You're family name is 'Potter'." She mentioned to Harry, who nodded. "Potter, Potter? Any relation to Lily Potter?" Harry sighed and replied.
"Lily Potter was my… mother!" Just then Hermione was dumbfounded again.
"You lot have heard of Harry's mother, but not Harry?!?" Hermione commented, Eriol made a reply to that.
"I told them of Lily Potter, but we're not familiar with Harry's claim to fame." Upon hearing this Hermione paused for a second and made a suggestion.
"We've got some shopping to do." She commented. "Why don't all go round together and maybe we can have a talk back at the Leaky Cauldron?" Ron turned round and said.
"I'd hate to say it, but for once Miss Brainbox is right!" Sakura's group followed Harry, who took the initiative to go along with Hermione's idea, with affirmative replies. Just as Ron followed on Hermione said.
"What did you call me?" And took her position as rear guard (metaphorically speaking).
After an hour or so Sakura's group had received most of what they were required; when they were buying their robes Tomoyo was in virtual depression at the blandness and absence of cuteness in them.
"We only need our wands now!" Eriol commented, both as information for Sakura's group and as a hint for Harry's group
"This is the shop you'll want," Harry commented, pointing up to the shop's sign, "Ollivander's, I can think of no where else to get them!" He led the septet into the shop.
"Hello." Tomoyo called out at seeing an empty shop. "Anyone here is there?" Just then an old-looking man shot out from behind the shop on a ladder.
"Ah, we meet again, Mr. Potter!" The old man said.
"These four," Harry replied, indicating Sakura's group "Are exchange students, but they are in need of wands!" In response to this the old man got down and whipped out a tape measure.
"Who will be first?" He asked, Eriol stepped up in response in order to show how it was done. "Which hand is your wand hand?" Eriol held out his left hand and the old man measured it and wrote down the measurement. Then he began to ferret through the stacks of wands around him. "Here," He said, pulling out one of the wand boxes, "Dragon scale, phoenix feather and elm wood, seven inches." He gingerly removed the wand from the box and handed it to Eriol, remembering procedure from his past life he waved it randomly and sent a few books flying off the counter and dutifully returned it to the shopkeeper. "Ah," Commented the shopkeeper, "I'm sure dragon scale suits you!" He went and tried another. "Maybe dragon scale and yew wood, nine inches." Once again Eriol waved it, but the result was worse, several wand cases shot right off their shelves. "Oh." The shopkeeper commented, he then delved deeper into the shop to the second-hand wands, and then he pulled out one wand case with a red seal on it. "Three hundred years." He mused to himself and went back to Eriol, this time handing him the whole case. "Dragon scale, phoenix feather and alder wood, eleven inches." He was speaking in a much lower volume; Eriol held the case carefully, like a treasure that had not been seen in years. Then the seal faded away and Eriol removed the lid and took out the wand, a warm breeze blew through the shop. "Amazing," The shopkeeper commented, "Amazing! I remember that wand well, only one previous owner who went away to the Orient and was never seen in England for three centuries!"
This time Shaoran came up, he carried his usual emotionless face. "Let me see your wand hand, boy." The shopkeeper mentioned, Shaoran thusly extended his right arm and it was measured. "Now then," The shopkeeper commented as he took out another wand, "I think dragon scale, unicorn hair and plum tree wood, eight inches." Shaoran took hold of it and waved it around, resulting in an aurora swirling round his head. "Excellent!" He cried.
Now Tomoyo stepped forward, Sakura noticed that Ron was sheltering behind Harry, who seemed to be taking this pretty well. "This hand is that I use!" Tomoyo commented before the shopkeeper could ask her, holding out her right hand; once again the shopkeeper started ferreting. "Maybe," He commented, handing her a wand, "Phoenix feather, unicorn hair and lime tree wood, five inches." Tomoyo held it nervously and gave it a little shake, a glass tumbler smashed to pieces off to her right. "No, no, definitely not!" He tried again with a slightly longer wand. "Unicorn hair and apple tree wood, six inches." Tomoyo once again gave it a light shake, but this time a few sparks of a cool colour zipped around the end of the wand. "OK." The shopkeeper commented.
Now it was Sakura's turn, after the shopkeeper measured her right hand she asked him.
"Do you not have trouble if your shop is damaged every time someone buys a wand?" The shopkeeper just smiled and replied.
"Young lady, when you've been in the business as long as I have you know a good customer is one who fails lots of wands! It's a cinch to put everything back afterwards!" He then began his search for another wand. "Perhaps this one will suffice. Unicorn hair and oak, eleven inches." Sakura took it from him and swung it from right to left, a load of books fell off their shelves at the left end of the shop. "Seems not to be the case!" He tried again with all different compositions and lengths, causing the shop to be trashed more and more, even various second-hand wands didn't suffice.
"Sorry," Sakura apologised, "Would we be able to help?" The shopkeeper only smiled and said.
"That's alright, at the end of the day it's like rebuilding the whole shop, regardless of who in particular comes in." He then spotted one neglected wand box on the floor nearby. "Hmm." He mused, lifting it up and handing Sakura the wand inside. "Unicorn hair, phoenix, feather, dragon scale and cherry tree wood, nine inches." Sakura took it and immediately a halo of light formed round her on the floor. "Great power that last failed a young witch in 1809, to enter your hands. You must be very powerful!" Suddenly a thought dawned on Sakura.
"This wand, who made it?" The shopkeeper leaned close and said.
"A mighty wizard, who I have not heard in name! The wand chooses the master, Miss Kinomoto! We cannot be sure why. But it is clear that you'll make wizarding history, for the maker never used it, no one had ever successfully wielded it before you!" Sakura's group now had a very good idea of this wand's maker, especially Eriol, who held his wand like he had possessed it before. Harry's group were just stunned that Sakura was to wield such power.
Their final purchases were their familiars: Eriol purchased a black cat, in place of Spinel Sun; Shaoran chose a golden owl; Tomoyo chose a bluish-grey and white patterned owl, which she called 'kawaii'; Sakura took care to choose a small, brown owl to avoid any trouble on Kero's part.
Back at the Leaky Cauldron Eriol arranged four rooms for himself, Sakura, Shaoran and Tomoyo; Harry's group already had rooms. While sitting downstairs, Hermione returned to the topic they left when they first met, delivering all info on Harry and Voldemort up to the end of the previous school year.
"HOEEE!!!" Sakura cried out once Hermione had finished. "How can anyone be so horrible?!?"
"I heard nothing so bad!" Tomoyo commented, Shaoran was on the brink of fury.
"No wonder he was killed!" He added. "He had it coming to him!"
"You've forgotten," Hermione commented, "He came back in the previous Spring!" Just then Sakura's warm-hearted disposition came into play.
"Can he not be returned from this horror? Can he not lose the badness in his heart?!?" She asked desperately, hoping that unpleasant aspects of a personality can be removed from anybody.
"He's evil!" Hermione answered. "He is the heir of Slytherin, founder of the house named after him and a believer in thorough-bred wizards and witches! He believes exactly the same and seems to be a tyrannical megalomaniac!" Eriol refined all the complicated English words for Sakura's group to understand.
"He has no right to live!" Harry added. "He murdered my parents and many others, including some in long wizarding lines because they refused to follow him!" Then Shaoran, positively infuriated commented.
"He doesn't even deserve to die, he should not even exist!" Eriol understood this perfectly, but Sakura and Tomoyo didn't catch on.
Not long afterwards they retired to their rooms to be ready for when they had to set off for Hogwarts; Sakura's mind was in turmoil, she felt she had to do something to stop the reign of terror Voldemort had created, but she couldn't see how as she wanted to place a light in his heart somehow, she was reluctant to kill anyone regardless of reason.
