A few months passed. August was nearing its end. Evelyn had sold the manticore pieces, keeping a claw for herself that she wrapped in a red cloth and tucked in her large satchel with her other treasures and things she wanted to take. The Manticore had brought in quite a sum in the wizarding world, especially since it was so rare that the wizards had one that wasn't trying to eat them. That, along with other little kills she made and things she found, was quite enough to buy what she required for school, and then some. However, she had no idea where to get the things on her school supply list. She knew about some place called Diagon Alley in London from one of the diplomats, but she had no clue on how to get there. She decided that perhaps she would see someone who could help her in London.
After her final goodbyes to her clan, she left for London, wearing her usual brown pants and green shirt with some brown leather boots she had been given by Cole and Simon. She walked through the streets of London, not really liking the city. She had been there once before, a few years back, but she hadn't been alone then. She was just about to give up on finding a wizard when she saw a massive man with lots of hair and a great beard walk inside an inn called The Leaky Cauldron with a young boy with black hair and glasses who was about her age. She followed them, sensing their magic.
She followed them unnoticed, until they reached a courtyard behind the inn. She watched in silence as the man located a trash can, then moved three bricks up and two across, tapping the brick he came to. Evelyn was astonished as the bricks began to move, forming a large archway. The two walked through it, then it closed again. Evelyn recovered from her shock and walked over to the wall. "Three up and two across…" The archway opened for her as well. She grinned and walked through it.
The sight that greeted her was stunning. There were magical shops everywhere, selling all sorts of different things. She couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face as she took it all in. She slowly walked forward, letting the wonder wash over her. "So this is their world…" She let out a sigh of admiration. Then she got down to business.
She got out the list of supplies for first-years and looked over it. She spent a moment locating shops where she could get all the supplies, then wondered how she was going to carry them all. She looked around and saw that many people had carts, but she didn't think that it was very efficient. Then something in a shop window happened to catch her eye. A bag with an extension charm was being sold. Evelyn had plenty of extra money, so she went in and bought it, with the assurance of the shopkeeper that it would hold all of her school supplies.
Once that was done, she began to go about getting all the things on the list. She went to a bookshop first, where the shop keeper was happy to help her find her books. Then she went to get her uniform. She thought the very idea of robes were ridiculous, since it was hard to move in them, but she knew she had to have them. She bought a hat, and a winter cloak. She didn't buy protective gloves, because she already had several pairs of those.
She bought the rest of the equipment she needed, carefully tucking it in the bag, then headed to the wand shop. She wasn't entirely sure how all of this worked, so she went to the shopkeeper, who introduced himself as Ollivander.
"If you'll hold on for just a moment," he let her sit down while he helped the other customer in the shop. It was that boy again. She noticed that he had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead. It was a bit unusual to her. She watched him test several wands, then smiled when he finally found the one that worked for him.
The boy noticed her, then waved. She waved back. He asked, "are you a first-year too?" She nodded and introduced herself, "Evelyn Dracaena. A pleasure." "Harry Potter." They shook hands, but Ollivander interrupted. "A Dracaena? And a Potter, right in my shop together!" The two children glanced at him, a bit confused, but let it slide.
"Perhaps I'll see you on the train?" Harry asked. It was clear that, like her, he didn't know anyone here. Evelyn smiled, "perhaps." Then the boy left, presumably to get the rest of his supplies.
"Let's find you a wand, miss Dracaena. I had heard that one of the Hunters was a witch, but now I know it's true," Ollivander smiled and went down the rows, picking up several wand boxes. At first, none of them seemed to work for her, but finally, there was one that was just right. It was dark, almost black, and simple. The handle was smooth in her hand, fitting just right in her palm, and the rest of it had a few intricate designs carved in it.
"Ah, stained ash wood with Thestral hair! A rare wand indeed, I must admit I didn't craft this one." The wand seemed to sing for her. Evelyn carefully set it in the box and paid for it, then left the shop.
With all of her supplies, Evelyn intended on getting a room in an inn for the night, so she headed back towards the entrance to the alley. However, before she could get there, two red-headed twins ran by, laughing, and accidentally knocked her over. She hit the ground on her hands and knees with a soft grunt.
"Oh, we're sorry, miss!" One of them knelt down to pick up her bags, while the other helped her up. "We didn't see you there." Evelyn brushed herself off. "It's alright, it was an accident." The two appeared to be older than her, but only by a couple of years. They handed her her bags. "You're not hurt, are you?" Evelyn shook her head and smiled. "I'm fine."
"I'm Fred," one stated, then the other continued, "and I'm George." Evelyn found it difficult to tell the difference. "Evelyn. A pleasure." She shook their hands. They seemed nice enough, if not mischievous. "We're third years. You look like a first." Evelyn nodded in affirmation.
Then someone shouted from down the street, and the two grinned. "We'll see you later, Evelyn!" They ran off down the street. An older man ran up, puffing and quite red in the face. "Have you seen two twins, red-heads, run by?" Evelyn thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, sir." The man growled, "those damn Weasleys!" He ran off.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Evelyn went back to The Leaky Cauldron. She was tired, since it was day-time, so she got a room and laid down to nap.
Evelyn headed towards the train station, ticket in hand. She figured that asking one of the muggles would be a bad idea, so she just looked around for anyone unusual. She then spotted a group of red-heads along with Harry Potter. She wandered over in that direction.
"Hey, look George!" Fred pointed at Evelyn and waved. Evelyn waved back and walked over. She greeted Harry. They showed her how to get to the platform 9 3/4. Evelyn closed her eyes and ran into the wall. She was surprised when it worked.
The train, it its way, was beautiful. Evelyn got on, showing the attendant her ticket. "This is incredible." She had never ridden a train before. Really, she hadn't even seen one. She looked around, trying not to run into anyone. Someone accidentally pushed her, and she bumped into someone. "Hey! Watch it!" The boy turned around, scowling with incredible ferocity. "Ah, I'm sorry! Someone pushed me," Evelyn apologized quickly, then she recognized the boy.
"Malfoy?" She had seen him once before, when she and Zerif had gone to accept a job on the Malfoy estate. She had only seen a glance of him, but it was him. The boy's scowl lessened a bit. "And who are you?" There were two boys beside him, watching her. One was fat.
"Ah, a thousand pardons. I truly didn't mean to bump into you. Evelyn Dracaena, I helped to remove the Banshee from your estate a few years back." She bowed her head a bit. The boy seemed pleased at the respect. "I remember you, the Hunter." The other two boys gasped, and whispered about her being a Hunter. Evelyn nodded.
"It's alright, I'm sure it was an accident," the boy extended his hand. "Draco." She shook it gently. He had an arrogant smirk on his face. "Perhaps you'd like to sit with us? A Hunter deserves to be in decent company, after all." Evelyn was about to accept when the Weasley twins showed up and hooked their arms around hers. "Sorry, Blondie, but she's sitting with us." Before anyone had a chance to protest, Evelyn was dragged away and shoved into one of the seating cabins.
"You didn't tell us you were a Hunter," Fred stated (she was getting a bit better at telling them apart). Evelyn replied, "you didn't ask." George raised an eyebrow. At least, she thought it was George. "Were you the one who brought down the Manticore?" Evelyn nodded, looking at the floor.
"Prove it," they both said. Evelyn looked up at them. "You don't believe me?" They shook their heads. "There's no way an 11-year-old could bring down a Manticore." Evelyn sighed and rolled up her sleeves, showing the six claw scars, three on either side, on her arms. "The Manticore gave me these. Also," she went into her satchel and brought out the red cloth. "I have a claw." She showed it to them.
"She really did it." "Astonishing." "How? It's impossible!" Evelyn explained "only to wizards. It's resistant to magic, but I didn't use magic." She put the claw away, rolled down her sleeves, and sat down. They sat across from her.
"So you know Malfoy?" One of them asked. She didn't bother anymore with discerning who was who; it was day and she was tired. "I know of him. I've done some jobs at his father's estate before." The twins frowned. Evelyn asked, "why? Is there something wrong with him?" The twins rolled their eyes, and one of them said "he's a stuck-up brat. I'd stay away if I were you." Evelyn wasn't sure how to respond.
Fortunately, she didn't have to. A boy with dark skin and dreadlocks opened the compartment door and plopped down beside her. "Fred, George," he greeted the twins. "And who is this?" He smiled in a friendly manner at her.
"Evelyn Dracaena," she introduced herself. "Lee Jordan," they shook hands. Then Lee looked back at the twins. "So guess what I did to the tarantula?" He grinned, proud of himself. "I made it giant." The twins shot up, "we have to go see it!" In an instant, the three boys were out of the compartment. Evelyn stayed behind. She noticed that everyone was wearing their black robes, so she pulled one of hers out of her bag and slid it over her clothes.
There was a knock on the compartment door. Evelyn opened it to see Draco and his two friends were there. "Those blasted twins didn't bother you, did they?" Evelyn shook her head. Draco then introduced Crabbe and Goyle.
Evelyn realized why Draco was so intent on making friends with her. He liked surrounding himself with powerful people. She supposed she didn't blame him; in their world, Hunters were a rarity, especially wizard Hunters.
Evelyn could hear laughing, and assumed that the twins and Lee were returning. Draco seemed to be thinking the same. He sneered, "remember, someone like you would be better off avoiding that low family." He left her with that.
Evelyn didn't understand all of this. In her world, status was earned, not given at birth. She shrugged and sat back in the compartment as if she had never moved. The sun was setting.
The twins and Lee entered the compartment laughing about the look on someone's face and sat down in their former places. "Oh, that was great," one of the twins said. Evelyn was pretty sure it was George.
Lee was about to say something when there was another knock on the door. Lee reached over and opened it. A woman had brought a cart to sell goodies. Evelyn watched in silence as the three boys all ordered something. "Anything for you, dear?" Evelyn was about to say no, when George spoke up. "How about some chocolate frogs?" Evelyn blinked. She knew what frogs were, but she had only heard of chocolate. She had heard it was sweet and bitter. She wanted to try it, so she nodded and got four, one for each of them.
Evelyn giggled as the three chased their frogs, which hopped out as soon as the packages were opened. She held tightly to her own and grasped the frog before it could hop away. It smelled nice, anyway, so she tentatively took a bite.
Her eyes lit up. It was, by far, the best thing she had ever tasted.
Fred laughed a bit, "I think she likes chocolate." Evelyn nodded. "I've never had it before." She ate the rest of the frog in bliss.
Overall, the whole thing was a pleasant experience, since she made new friends and learned about the beauty of chocolate. She learned more about the wizarding world from the three pranksters, though she learned not to trust what they said entirely.
When the train stopped, Evelyn got off with them. She gaped at the massive castle that was Hogwarts. She waved to the three when the first years were separated, and got in a boat with Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle.
Draco spent the whole ride complaining about being rejected by Harry Potter, "a Weasley over me?" Evelyn humoured him, finding the antics of this world amusing.
They went through the briefing with Professor McGonagall, whom Evelyn liked, and headed towards the main hall. She wondered which house she would be put in.
Okay guys, Slytherin or Gryffindor?