AN: *I didn't know that JK Rowling wanted a Walnut phoenix wand until I had finished writing Chapter two.

"Flourish and Blotts", said Sam, looking expectantly at the bookstore in front of him. He had gotten his wand (seven precious galleons from his allowance) and the rest of his supplies as quickly as possible save his robes (which would take a lot of hassle) so he could spend as much of his time as possible here. The interior of the store was filled with books stacked to the ceiling, all curiosities. Apart from the boring standard tomes there were books the size of stamps covered in silk, books as large in paving stones bound in leather, and books filled with all sorts of interesting subjects. Even as he swept up his year one schoolbooks, his attention was drawn to other, less conventional tomes. Hogwarts: A History seemed nice, and so he put it into his basket. Curses and Countercurses seemed a certainty, until he read the introduction and realised that nine-tenths of the spells listed would be impossible to him until later. In went Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Anything with Children in the name stayed out. Just as a curiosity, he also got copies of Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland because they contained, well, DRAGONS. Charms of Defence and Detterence appeared quite informative, and he also, prior to heading to the counter, swept up a worn tome called Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science. Well, it contained "Science" in it- that was a first.

His purse seemed quite relieved when, several hours later, he shut A History of Magic (Which he had been reading on a bench) and realised that the sun was setting, he hadn't gotten his robes and that Hagrid was going to be ballistic when he found him- if he had finished his pick-me-up, that was.

Sam walked in Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling rather queasy in his stomach. Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch, clad in muave robes. "Hogwarts, dear?" she asked, just as Sam began to wonder how to talk to her. "Got the lot here-another young man being fitted up just now, in fact." In the back of the shop, Harry noticed another boy with a pale pointed face being outfitted by a second witch while standing on a footstool. Madam Malkin stood Samuel up next to the young boy, whose eyes seemed to gleam with a strange quality, holding himself up as if he deserved this kind of treatment every day.

"Hello", said the boy. "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Sam.

The boy began talking with a bored, drawling voice. "My father's next store buying my books and Mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. "Then I'm going-"

"Er, don't you have to test out wands for yourself first?" Sam felt his face glow red as the boy looked at him.

"As if. Everyone knows that the Malfoys don't bother with low-level nonsense like that. Choosing is for the other sort- mudbloods. We purebloods can handle anything we want."

"Mudbloods?"

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Here his head tiled down, and his voice became hushed. "Mudbloods are the scum of the earth, they're unfit to be wizards. You see, they've only got one wizard parent, or no wizard parents at all. That's why they're no good."

Sam was strongly reminded of racist rallies against black or mixed people: Black people are the scum of the earth, they're unfit to be human. You see, they've only got one white parent, or no white parents at all. That's why they're no good. He began to strongly resent this boy. Are all wizards like that? He wondered. Or just these "Pure-bloods"? Are far as he knew, his parents were perfectly normal muggles, which made him... He didn't know anymore. The boy went back to chattering. "Anyways, I'm going to drag them away to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Sam was not impressed.

"Have you got your own broom?" The boy went on.

"No."

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," said Sam again, vaguely wondering whether thw Quality Quidditch Supplies shop had anything to do with it, and what on earth Quidditch could be.

"I do- Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my House, and I have to say I agree. Know what House you'll be in yet?"

"Er..." Sam frantically thought back to him leafing through Hogwarts: A History. Houses... Houses...

"Ravenclaw, I guess?" He felt pretty stupid saying that, but Ravenclaw was for the clever lot- he certainly hoped to get in.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm," Sam said, wishing quietly that he could say anything more interesting than single words.

"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding towards the front window. Hagrid was standing there, apparently looking for Sam.

"That's Hagrid." said Sam, wondering what the boy thought of the man. "I think he's from Hogwarts."

"Oh, I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"Well... I'm not sure, actually." Sam found himself liking the boy rather less. The snooty attitude didn't help much.

"Yes, exactly. I've heard he's a sort of savage-lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he get's drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's fine. He didn't seem too bad."

"Huh. Tell me-"

"Sam" Sam said curtly.

"Tell me, Sam, why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're- well, they're muggles..."

"No wonder." Here he stifled a derisive snort. "If it was me, I'd ditch them as fast as possible too. Doesn't hide the fact that you're a filthy muggleborn though." The last bit was spoken with a sneer.

Sam was infuriated. "How dare you-"

"Well well, that's you done, my dear. Do try not to stir up any trouble, will you?" Madam Malkin stepped away from his stool, and Sam rushed out of the shop, fuming loudly.

"Well, you look angry. What's the matter?" Hagrid looked at him oddly. "Got all yer things yet?"

"Err... I think." Sam unrolled his piece of paper. "That's everything, yeah. I got a collapsible cauldron though. Cost me a bit more, but at least I don't have to carry the thing around."

"That's a good call. Can yeh believe we used to make them carry 'em without the collapsin' charm? The lot all dreaded potions, they did." He was chortling now. "At least 'till Snape got in. Now they're jus' terrified."

"Snape?"

"Professor Snape for yeh. Potions master o' Hogwarts. I wouldn' want teh get on his bad side now." Hagrid seemed a lot more talkative once he had his drink. "Meet anyon' interestin' in particular?"

"Yeah, I met a jerk called... Draco."

Hagrid's face darkened. "I hard abou' him. He's the son o' Lucius, one o' them old-timey nobles. Thinks because he's got a rich dad, he can walk righ' over the world. Bes' if yeh don' talk to him at all. Trust me, it ain't pretty."

"Lucius is a noble?! You guys still have powerful nobles here? We got our parliament act together decades ago! But you guys have a... Ministry of some sorts, right? So..."

"Don' be fooled by the Chief Minister. The Ministry o' Magic's really controlled by the Wizengamot, an' the Wizengamot's made of nobles. Pureblood folk like Lucius. Lately the've bin usin' Grindelwald as an excuse teh do some pretty shady stuff. All those regulations... Still, don' concern yerself with this, lad. Hogwarts' the safest there is. Dumbledore's gonna hold 'em at bay."

"Dumbledore... the headmaster?"

Hagrid lit up at the mention of his name.

"Dumbledore saved us all, yeh know. Defeated Grindelwald all those years ago. Shame he got voted outta the Wizengamot in '85. He woulda done so much more. Fer us, I mean. He's a wonderful man. Took me in when... when... when..."

And he spoke no more.

"It's fine, Hagrid." Sam said quietly. Dumbledore... another name to remember, eh? He thought quietly.

"Ah!" Hagrid's face suddenly brightened. "Florean! Yeh want some ice cream, Sam?"

As it turned out, wizarding ice cream tasted just like regular ice cream, only better. "This stall's been here forever, since the days when the Fortescues were knights, you know. Still know quite a bit about those old days." Florean said with a twinkle in his eye as he took Hagrid's payment for the two large ice creams- strawberry and chocolate.

"Ooh! Some of your ancestors were knights?"

"Quite a few, actually. I could tell you all about that, but I'd expect you to be more interested in ol' Dexter."

"Dexter... Dexter Fortescue... He was a headmaster, right? I saw his name in Hogwarts: A History earlier."

"Why yes! One of my more... august ancestors. He had quite a library, you know. I still read some of its books occasionally."

Sam quietly made a note in his brain to talk to Florean if he ever needed information on wizarding history, or Hogwarts headmasters. At the same time, however, he said goodbye cheerfully and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron, lugging his trunk filled with books and supplies behind him."Summer just got a whole lot longer", he thought. "Now that I ain't going to public school anymore."