Ginny had trouble falling asleep Tuesday night, and it had nothing to do with the occasional explosion that came from Fred and George's room or the howling ghoul in the attic. The problem was that she was far too excited about her trip into Diagon Alley the following morning. Sure, she had been to Diagon Alley many times before, but this time was different. This time Ginny would be going to purchase her school books, school robes, and, most importantly, her very own wand. She had only been looking forward to going to Hogwarts for practically her entire life. When Ginny did manage to drift into a dull restless sleep, a horrifying scene haunted her:

Ginny waltzed into the wandmaker's shop full of confidence. Today was the day she was going to be getting her very own wand. However, as soon as she walked in, the man inside gave her a very confused look.

"What are YOU doing in here?" He practically shouted, "You don't possess magic, you're just a dirty little squib!" Everyone in her family began to cackle. Her brother Percy was quick to comment,

"You always wanted to be noticed, didn't you? In a family of seven children, it can be quite hard to get any sort of attention. Now look at you, you're a squib. You'll be the talk of the century. EVERYONE will notice you now."

"No you're wrong!" She shouted, but was unconvinced, "I've been showing signs of magic since the age of four. I got a Hogwarts letter! Please!" Ginny began to cry, which only made her family laugh harder.

Mrs. Weasley burst into Ginny's room Wednesday morning, saving her from the entrapment of her mind. Although it felt as if she had gotten about three hours of sleep, Ginny was glad to be awake and away from her thoughts. After scarfing down at least five bacon sandwiches, Ginny was ready to climb inside her fireplace and head to Diagon Alley. She watched her mom grab the pot full of powder and hesitantly peer inside.

"We're running low, Arthur. We'll have to buy some more today." Her mom had a glaringly obvious concerned tone in her voice; it was no secret that the Weasleys were especially tight when it came to money recently. The room fell as silent as it had the day Hogwarts letters came. Ginny felt a familiar feeling of embarrassment creeping up on her again.

"Ah well, guests first. After you, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley proclaimed in a desperate attempt to break the tension. Ginny noticed a confused look form on Harry's face. She kept forgetting that he grew up with muggles, and that there was no way he had ever traveled by floo powder before.

"W-what am I supposed to do?" He asked, his face growing whiter by the second.

"He's never traveled by floo powder. Sorry mate, I forgot." Ron was quick to recover from his mistake, but Ginny felt a twinge of annoyance. How inconsiderate of Ron to not think of that.

"Here Harry, watch me. It really isn't all that hard." Said Fred as he stepped inside the Weasley's fireplace. Ginny watched as he threw some of the powder into the fireplace, creating a brilliant emerald green flame. "Diagon Alley!" He shouted, stepping into the fireplace. The family watched Fred twist and shrink within the flames until he was completely gone. Ginny could sense Harry was feeling a lot more confident now after seeing someone do it first. Despite her mother's continuous warnings about the many dangers of traveling by floo powder, Ginny could tell Harry was ready. She didn't even understand her mom's constant worrying over Harry. He had survived You-Know-Who, twice! Ginny was pretty sure he would be able to handle some measly little floo powder. Harry made his way up to the fireplace and grabbed a generous handful of powder. He threw it into the fire and prepared to step in. But, as he took a deep breath, he inhaled a significant amount of hot ash.

"D-Dia-g-gon Alley," He choked as he whirled up the fireplace. The room fell silent for a second time that day. However, the feeling in Ginny's stomach that accompanied this silence was not embarrassment, it was fear.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Weasley groaned, "hopefully he only went one grate too far." Ginny could tell she was trying her hardest to remain confident and collected. Nobody could really be sure where Harry was; however, they had to remember that Fred was still somewhere in Diagon Alley waiting for the rest of the family to show up. Ginny felt a small flicker of hope as she stepped into the fireplace. Maybe Harry had actually ended up in Diagon Alley safely, despite his unclarity.

"Diagon Alley!" She spoke very confidently as she disappeared. The familiar feeling of being sucked down a drain engulfed her, and then, as quickly as it had began, it was over. She climbed out of the fireplace to see a very worried Fred standing in front of her.

"Where's Harry?" He demanded, "Wasn't he supposed to go next?" The hope that was present inside Ginny had now disappeared. Harry had really gotten lost in the floo network.

"He did go before me," she explained with a sigh, "he started coughing as he said 'Diagon Alley', and now we don't know where he is!" The panic in her voice was rising.

"Oh dear, he isn't here, is he?" Mrs. Weasley said as she climbed out of the fireplace. Ginny just nodded solemnly. George was the next one to appear.

"Oh man Harry really isn't here," he exclaimed, more excited than nervous. "The next grate over is Knockturn Alley." Fred instantly caught on, and with a mischievous smile he added,

"We'll go see if we can find him." The twins weren't even halfway out the door when Mrs. Weasley grabbed them by their collars and forced them to stop walking.

"You will do no such thing!" She scolded. Knockturn Alley was infamous for its attribution to the dark arts. Scary people walked around there. As much as Ginny hoped Harry was close by, she didn't want him being all alone in a place like that. Fred and George have been trying to sneak over there since as long as Ginny can remember. Mr. Weasley came next and finally Ron. As soon as Ron stepped out of the fireplace a girl with long frizzy hair and the largest front teeth Ginny had ever seen waltzed over. Ginny could only guess that this was Ron's friend from school, Hermione.

"Ron!" She exclaimed, "I'm so glad to see you!" The pair awkwardly embraced as the girl continued,. "Where's Harry? I thought you said he was with you?"

"Well he was," Ron mumbled as he inched away from his angry friend, "We think he got lost in the floo network."

"The floo network? He could be anywhere!" This girl appeared seriously worried. Ginny made a mental note to keep an eye on her. She clearly cared a lot about Harry.

"Oh, now let's not worry too much just yet; we suspect Harry only went one grate too far." Mrs. Weasley was clearly trying her hardest to appear as calm as humanly possible. The rest of the Weasleys knew very well that she was freaking out inside. Mrs. Weasley's interruption seemed to remind the bushy haired girl that Ron was not the only one in the room. In fact, Ron had an entire family of redheads with him.

"Oh how rude of me, I'm Hermione Granger. It is so very nice to meet you all!" Hermione exclaimed as she shook everyone's hand.

"Blimey!" Said Ron suddenly, "is that Hagrid over there with Harry?" Ginny looked up to see an unbelievably large man stomping through the crowd. He had a very bushy beard with a million crumbs stuck to it, horribly unkempt hair, and standing next to him was Harry Potter. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief as she jealously watched Hermione sprint over to greet them with a giant hug. Fred, George, Percy, Ron, and Mr. Weasley followed suit. Ginny wanted to follow as well, but she didn't want to leave her mom behind who was currently trying to add together how much all of the Weasley's books and robes would cost. Ginny awkwardly waited behind as she watched her mom silently suffer; she knew all of these books would damage the Weasley's financial situation more dramatically than they ever have before.

"Okay, off to gringotts bank first." Ginny's mom tried her hardest to appear confident. She wouldn't want Ginny worrying about things that didn't need to concern her. "Come along Ginny," she commanded as she took off in Harry's direction, pulling Ginny helplessly behind her. Harry was mostly covered in soot, and his glasses were cracked, but he was okay. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief while she watched her father and mother fuss over him. Mrs. Weasley pulled out a brush and began to shake the soot off of him while Mr. Weasley seized Harry's glasses and fixed the crack. The entire group began to climb the steps into Gringotts Bank while Harry recounted the details of his fireplace mishap.

"I saw Mr. Malfoy and Draco in Borgin and Burkes, and they were selling something," Harry exclaimed. Ginny knew Borgin and Burkes was a shop to steer clear of. They sold and bought products related to the dark arts.

"So the Malfoys are worried? I would love to get Lucius Malfoy for something." Mr. Weasley was practically beaming. The Malfoys were a slimey family and the Weasleys knew it. Back when You-Know-Who was still in power, Lucius Malfoy was a death eater. However, when the ministry was arresting You-Know-Who's followers and sending them to prison, Mr. Malfoy claimed that he had been forced to do You-Know-Who's bidding, and he managed to narrowly avoid going to prison. The Weasleys knew he was guilty though, especially Ginny's dad, who worked with Mr. Malfoy at the ministry. Mr. Weasley was about to continue on with his ridiculing of the Malfoy family, but he had spotted Hermione's muggle parents and got distracted.

After drilling the Grangers about the use of muggle money, Mr. Weasley was pulled away by Mrs. Weasley so that he could ride down to their vault with Harry and the rest of the family. Ginny always hated the ride down; it was horribly bumpy, and it made her nauseous. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the Weasley's vault. However, as the vault was opened, ginny felt a different kind of twisting in her stomach. Their money situation was far worse than she had expected. All that was left in their vault was a pile of sickles and a single galleon, and she watched her mom empty it all into her purse. Never in her eleven years on earth had Ginny ever witnessed the Weasley's vault empty. The thought terrified her. She watched her mother climb back into the cart with her head held high, pretending that everything was going to be okay. Everything became much more awkward as the crew arrived at Harry's vault. The family remained silent, and Harry tried his hardest to shield the contents of his vault from the Weasley's eyes. However, Ginny still managed to see the piles upon piles of coins inside.

Back at the entrance to Gringotts, everyone decided to split up and meet back at Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, in an hour. After first stopping to pick up some secondhand robes, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were off to purchase a wand. Ginny pranced towards Ollivander's wand shop, more nervous than she had ever been in her entire life. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't shake that nightmare. What if she actually was a squib? Quite the opposite of muggle borns like Hermione, or wizards with two muggle parents, squibs are people born to magic parents who do not possess magic. She was the seventh kid in her family, and she knew that there was probably a good chance at least one of the kids would be a squib. However, everything that had happened in her life served to prove this theory wrong. She had definitely shown signs of magic, and the Hogwarts letter she received should be proof enough. Still, Ginny just couldn't abolish the awful feeling that was causing her stomach to sink.

"Are you ready dear?" Mrs. Weasley seemed more excited than Ginny was, despite how much this wand was going to cost the family.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Ginny grit her teeth and stepped into the shop.

"Oh hello!" Said an old man with strikingly blue eyes, Ginny assumed this was Ollivander himself. "Molly how great it is to see you again, is this the last Weasley I'll have the pleasure of selling a wand?"

"Oh we sure hope so," Mrs. Weasley chuckled at the thought of an eighth child. Ginny shuddered. Her family could barely afford the seven kids that they already had.

"Hello," the man spoke to Ginny now, "I am Ollivander."

"Hi," Ginny managed to squeak, "I'm Ginny, it's very nice to meet you." Ollivander surveyed Ginny for a moment, scanning her every feature.

"It'll be difficult to tell which wand to place you with considering your family members have had a variety of different cores and lengths." He pulled one off the shelf and handed it to Ginny. "Ten and a half inches, unicorn hair, walnut, reasonably flexible." Ginny uncertainly grabbed the wand. It just felt like a normal old stick to her. Shouldn't she be able to tell when the right wand is in her hands? This was definitely not it.

"I could give it a swish if you want, but I really do not feel like this is the wand for me." Ollivander showed no sign of doubt. He simply took the wand from her and placed it back on the shelf.

"Ginny," he started, "why don't you pick one out?"

"Me? How could I possibly do that? How will I know which one is right?" Ginny didn't know the first thing about wands. How was she supposed to pick one out?

"Ginny my dear you have to trust me. You will know. After all, the wand chooses the wizard." With that Ginny hesitantly walked over towards the shelf that was stacked to the ceiling with wands of various types. She scanned up and down, unsure of which direction to go in when suddenly a wand floated off of the shelf, and landed right into her hands.

"Merlin's beard," the blue eyed wand maker was stunned, "I haven't seen that happen in at least a decade. Well go on, give it a swish." Ginny was very confident this was her wand. As she flicked it the whole room lit up, and a dazzling glimmer of light flew out from the tip. "Yes, I am quite sure that is the wand for you. But, a very interesting pick. Something I wouldn't have ever dreamed would belong to a petite girl such as yourself? Dragon's Heartstring. Makes for some of the most powerful wands. 14 inches long. Quite a large size for someone so small. Inflexible and made out of holly. Very, very interesting."

"Don't be too surprised, Ollivander. Size is no measure of power." Ginny knew her mom didn't actually think what she was saying was true, but she appreciated the notion. Mrs. Weasley payed the man, and her and Ginny turned to leave.

"Wait," Ollivander put a hand on Ginny's shoulder and kneeled down so that he was eye level with her, "When a wand as powerful as this one is so intent on choosing the wizard that it presents itself even before the wizard has laid his or her flesh on it, this wizard is special. I haven't seen an instance like this in years. Wands with dragon heartstring cores are powerful, yes, but easily persuaded to turn dark. My dear young lady, I advise you to be careful in this coming year. You are capable of great things. Whether this greatness will be good or bad is ultimately up to you." Ginny froze. Ollivander's eerie warning scared her a little bit. Maybe she didn't want this wand after all. Ginny was actually about to ask the man if she could exchange it for a less dangerous one, but Mrs. Weasley came charging in telling Ginny that they were going to be late. Mrs. Weasley didn't show any indication that she had heard Ollivander's dark warning. In fact, she had been halfway down the street before she noticed Ginny was not with her.

"Yes, yes, thank you very much for the wand. Ginny we must be on our way now, come along." Ginny waved one last uneasy goodbye to Ollivander before she was grabbed by the arm and dragged towards the bookstore. She didn't know how to interpret the warning Ollivander had just presented her with. She wanted to believe that he was just a crazy old man, but he seemed to really know what he was talking about, especially when it came to wands. In the end, she decided that nothing could happen to her at Hogwarts. After all, it's the safest place on Earth, right?

As Ginny was being pulled towards Flourish and Blotts, she noticed a large crowd of people surrounding the store. Certainly this many people couldn't all be wanting books. As she got closer to the bookstore, the crowd became more justified. A large banner was spread across the top of the bookstore reading:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

Will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

Today 12:30pm to 4:30pm.

Mrs. Weasley somehow managed to squeeze her and Ginny into the bookstore through the crowd of crazy middle aged women. Once inside, they spotted Mr. Weasley and the Grangers chatting about how "bus stops" work. Ginny went over to grab a used copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, and when she got back to the line, she found her mother frantically fixing her hair. She assumed this was because her mother wanted to look as presentable as possible during Mr. Lockhart's arrival.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley as Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined them in line. They were just in time to see Gilderoy make his grand entrance. Mrs. Weasley squealed excitedly. Ginny, personally, thought he looked extremely fake. He was wearing forget-me-not blue robes that matched his eyes almost too well. He was surrounded by pictures of himself that were flashing smiles that were far too white to belong to any normal human being and winking at every chance they got. Ginny just did not see the appeal. A reporter bumped into Ron as he was trying to weave through the crowd in order to get the best picture of Mr. Lockhart.

"Watch it! This is for the Daily Prophet!" He snarled at Ron.

"Big deal!" Ron shouted back, effectively getting the attention of Mr. Lockhart, who did not appreciate Ron's uninterested tone. However, the presence of Harry Potter gave Lockhart another idea. He practically dove into the crowd in order to seize Harry's arm and bring him up next to him at the table. Ginny watched nervously. She knew Harry wouldn't like this much attention on him. Harry took one picture with Lockhart and desperately tried to slip away from him, but to no avail. Ginny watched as Lockhart threw his hand around Harry and prepared to make an announcement,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography- which I will be happy to present to him now, free of charge- He had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmate will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" The room filled with applause, but Ginny just rolled her eyes as she watched Harry stagger under the weight of the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. He walked straight up to her on plopped all of the books into Ginny's cauldron,

"You have these. I'll buy my own-" He began, but was interrupted.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter? Famous Harry Potter, can't even go into a book shop without making the front page!" Ginny looked up to see a mean looking blonde kid sneering at Harry. This must be Draco Malfoy, a kid that Ron hated desperately and was always going on about. Being the son of Lucius Malfoy, Ginny spent all summer feeling as if Ron's hatred was justified. This little outburst only intensified Ginny's feelings. Full of newfound confidence due to Harry's generous donation, Ginny felt the need to step in.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!"

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" This boy was just nasty. Did he know about Ginny's crush on Harry? He couldn't possibly; he hadn't even met her before. Her face became a deep scarlet color as she tried to sink into the crowd. Ron, Harry, and Malfoy fought back and forth for a bit until Mr. Weasley made his way over.

"Ron! What are you doing? It's to crowded in here, let's go outside." As Mr. Weasley spoke, Ginny watched a tall man with a pale pointed face step up behind Draco. This could only be one person: the infamous Lucius Malfoy that her family hated so much.

"Well, well, well- Arthur Weasley." Mr. Malfoy was clearly looking to start a fight.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley hissed back with a slight nod.

"Busy time at the ministry, I hear. All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?" Malfoy reached his greasy hand into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a very old copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. "Obviously not," he cackled, "dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" Ginny felt a strong sense of anger bubble up inside her. She had a wand now; she could attack him if she wanted too. Nobody insults her family without facing the consequences. Mr. Weasley, however, beat her to the punch.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizards, Malfoy."

"Clearly," Malfoy retorted, his eyes wandering over towards the Grangers standing nearby, "The company you keep… and I thought your family could sink no lower." Mr. Weasley had snapped. Ginny watched in admiration as her dad flung Mr. Malfoy into a nearby bookshelf. Go Dad!

"Get em' Dad!" Fred and George encouraged.

"No Arthur, no!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked in horror. The crowd pushed back, trying their hardest to stay away from the fight.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Please! Break it up!" A worker desperately yelled as he watched Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy attack each other like a pair of mad men. Nobody seemed to be able to break them up. Until Hagrid came along. He was so large as it was, that separating the two fighting men was as easy for him as picking a flower. Ginny noticed that her father had a large cut on his lip, and Mr. Malfoy, who was still holding Ginny's book, had been hit in the eye. He walked right up to her and shoved her book back into her cauldron.

"Here girl- take your book- it's the best your father can give you." Ginny didn't care. She was just proud that her father had just beaten up Lucius Malfoy. She smiled as the Malfoys turned around and left the store, grumbling about filthy muggle lovers. They had gotten exactly what they deserved.

The Weasleys all turned to leave the store. They wanted to get as far away from there as possible. The worker seemed to want to stop them from leaving, but Ginny reckoned that Hagrid's abnormally large stature scared him off. Everyone seemed to be pretty happy that Malfoy finally got a taste of what he deserved. Everyone except for Mrs. Weasley.

"A fine example to set for your children… brawling in public… what Gilderoy Lockhart must have thought-" Fred jumped in almost immediately.

"He was pleased. Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report- said it was all publicity." Ginny couldn't help but chuckle at that. She wasn't sure what regular Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers were like, but she knew that Lockhart did not fit the criteria. This was going to be an interesting first year at Hogwarts. She kept these warm thoughts of what her life at Hogwarts was going to be like close in her mind.

"Only two weeks left," She thought as she whirled through the floo network and stepped back into her welcoming home. The wait was going to be a difficult one.