DISCLAIMER: I apoligise in advance that I had to use content from Chapter 5 of PS. Anything recognisable does not belong to me. Also I never have or will own the rights to the amazing Ms. Rowling's work.

Chapter 4 – Diagon Alley

When Harri and Rose woke in the morning they didn't dare believe what had happened last night had been real. After all there's no use getting your hopes up for something you know isn't real. So when the twins woke from what they convinced each other was a very vivid dream to the sharp sound of tapping, they logically assumed that it was Aunt Petunia knocking on their cupboard door.

"Alright, we're getting up," Harri grumbled.

~It was such a good dream~ Rose sighed longingly.

Harri sat up pushing Hagrid's huge coat off herself in surprise. Rose blinked and sat up too. Hagrid was asleep on the couch. The tapping noise resumed.

The twins turned to see a brown owl, rapping on the window with its sharp beak. Harri quickly went over to the window and opened it while Rose disentangled herself from the coat. The owl flew in, dropped a rolled up newspaper on the ground and promptly began attacking Hagrid's coat.

"Shoo!" Rose hissed, trying to get the vicious bird away from the coat. Unfazed, the owl screeched angrily and continued to attack the coat.

"Hagrid!" Harri said sharply. "There's an owl!"

"Pay 'im" the giant grumbled sleepily. "There's money in the pockets"

Problem was, the coat was nothing but pockets. Eventually the girls managed to find some odd looking coins while the owl looked on irritably.

Harri and Rose looked at the coins in confusion. How were they supposed to pay the owl? The coins were unlike any they'd ever seen before. Thankfully, Hagrid was a little more awake by now and explained very briefly about the different currency of the wizarding world. Rose counted out five of the little bronze Knuts and tipped them into the pouch on the owl's outstretched leg.

The twins minds were reeling from all they'd learned so far about the wizarding world as they neared the shore in the magically sped boat. As Hagrid read his newspaper, Harri and Rose had a brief mental recap on what they knew.

~Ok, so first of we got the fact that we're witches~ Harri began.

~Our parents didn't die in an accident, they were murdered~ Rose continued.

~There's an evil dark wizard named Voldemort who may or may not still be alive who attempted to kill us when we were babies~

~We're believed to be the Boy-Who-Lived~

~There's a completely different currency for us to learn~

~Apparently we've got some of this "wizard money" in a bank called Gringotts~

~Not to mention there's a Ministry of Magic with a Minister~

~I think that's all the important stuff for now~ Rose finished.

~Yeah~

When they arrived at shore Harri, Rose and Hagrid went into town

Walking through town was... interesting to say the least. Hagrid kept on pointing out perfectly ordinary objects like parking meters and saying, "Ye see tha', Harri, Rose? The things these muggles dream up, eh?"

"Hagrid," Rose said as she and Harri ran a little to keep up with Hagrid, "Did you say that there are dragons at Gringotts?"

"Well, tha's wha' they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."

"You'd like one?" Harri asked incredulously.

"Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go."

They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harri and Rose so they could buy their tickets.

People stared even more on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a bright yellow circus tent.

"Still got yer letters, girls?" he asked as he counted stitches.

Rose took the parchment envelope out of her pocket while Harri peered over her sister's shoulder.

"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh'll need."

Rose unfolded a second piece of paper she hadn't noticed the night before, and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' 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 set

1 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

"Can we buy all this in London?" Harri wondered aloud.

"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid vaguely.

The twins had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was clearly not used to getting there by ordinary means of travel. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were tiny and the trains too slow.

"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.

Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harri and Rose had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you anything remotely magical. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?

~I certainly would have believed that if we didn't know that the Dursleys hate imagination~ Rose snorted.

~Besides, can't really help but trust him. Hagrid just seems so, so...~ Harri searched for the right word.

~Nice? Safer than the Dursleys on a good day?~ Rose supplied.

~Something like that~

Soon they came to a grubby looking pub with a metal sign reading "The Leaky Cauldron" Judging by the way no-one around could seem notice it was there, the twins assumed that there was some kind of magic stopping them from seeing it and followed Hagrid inside.

It was a dimly lit bar with people all wearing different colours and shades of cloaks and robes. Harri and Rose stopped when Hagrid did as the man tending the bar called out.

"Ah, Hagrid! The usual I presume?"

"No thanks, Tom," Hagrid replied cheerfully, "I'm on official Hogwarts business today. Jus' taking young Harri an' Rose to buy their school things."

The bar tender looked curiously at the twins for a moment before nodding and returning to his work. The rest of the pub's occupants went back to their conversations.

Hagrid lead the slightly confused girls through the bar, only pausing to say hello to frightened young man who was apparently one of the Hogwarts professors. They reached a back door which lead out to a small space that looked like it had very little purpose.

"What was that about?" Harri asked.

"Oh, they all thought tha' yeh might be Harry Potter fer a moment is all. Which yeh are, but they don't know that."

"Is that why they were so disappointed?"

"Yep."

"Is Professor Quirrell always that nervous?" Rose said.

"Oh, he didn't use ta be, ran to a bit o' trouble wit' a hag an' a vampire couple o' years ago, never been the same since. Scared of his students, scared of his subject. He used ta' be brilliant though." Hagrid replied absently, searching the brick wall for something.

~Hags?~ Rose said at the same time as Harri said ~Vampires?~

"There we are!" Hagrid said happily after tapping one of the bricks three times. "Welcome, girls, to Diagon Alley." Harri and Rose gapped as the wall parted to reveal a bustling alley, full of people wearing colourful robes all looking to buy things from the odd shops that lined the alley.

Harri and Rose wished they had more eyes. There was just so much to look at. There were stores selling all sorts of things from robes to brooms, cauldrons to dragon livers. Luckily they each looked at one side of the street, they could swap memories later, so they could take in as much as they could.

"Gringotts." Hagrid suddenly said and the girls looked around had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was —

"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him.

The goblin was about a head shorter than Harri and Rose. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, the twins noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid, Rose and Harri made for the counter.

"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Misses Harriet and Rosalie Potter's safe."

"You have their key, sir?"

"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying the contents of his numerous pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers.

The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harri watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals while Rose saw another goblin examine a sapphire about the size of her fist.

"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.

The goblin looked at it closely.

"That seems to be in order."

"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

The goblin read the letter carefully.

"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"

Griphook was yet another goblin.

Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and the girls followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harri asked.

Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

"Alright then," Rose said "Why wasn't the goblin surprised when you told him our names? I thought only a few people knew who we really were."

"The goblins already knew about tha'. Dumbledore wasn't concerned tho', goblins like knowing things tha' wizards don't. They find it funny when wizards are clueless 'bout things. They call it 'client confidentiality' but its more 'bout knowing importan' secrets."

Griphook held the door open for them. Harri and Rose, who had expected more marble, were surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.

At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harri tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. Rose tried helping but gave up, just enjoying the ride.

The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.

Rose and Harri's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but they kept them wide open. Once, they thought they saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late - they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never know," Rose called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."

He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.

Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, the twins gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Tall columns of silver. Piles of little bronze Knuts.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid.

All theirs — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from them faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harri and Rose cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to them, buried deep under London. Hagrid helped Harri and Rose pile some of it into a bag.

"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"

"One speed only," said Griphook.

They were going even deeper now and gathering speed.

The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harri leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled her back by the scruff of her neck. Rose grinned at her twin and whooped in delight. They'd never been on a rollercoaster but figured this was pretty close to one.

Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.

How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Rose asked.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.

Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harri and Rose were sure, and they leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least — but at first they thought it was empty. Then the girls noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.

Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harri and Rose longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.

Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.

One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. The twins didn't know where to run first now that they had a bag full of money. They didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that they were holding more money than they'd had in their whole lives — more money than even Dudley had ever had.

"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, girls, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harri and Rose entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dears?" she said, when Rose started to speak. "Got the lot here — there's young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harri on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over her head, and began to pin it to the right length. Rose was directed by a second witch to the stool next to Harri.

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

"Yes," said Rose and Harri nodded.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy.

He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off 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."

Harri and Rose were strongly reminded of Dudley.

"Have you got your own brooms?" the boy went on.

"No," said Rose.

"Ever played Quidditch before?"

"No," Harri said, wondering 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 must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harri and Rose in unison, feeling more stupid by the minute.

"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," said Harri, wishing she could think of something more interesting to say.

"I think you two would fit in in Slytherin, the colours match your eyes, you know. Green and silver."

"Thanks" Rose said quietly and both girls blushed a little.

"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at the twins and pointing at three large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Harri, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

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

"He's the gamekeeper," said Harri a little icily. He was liking the boy less and less every second. It didn't matter anymore that he'd complimented her and Rose.

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

"I think he's brilliant," said Harri coldly.

"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," said Harri shortly. She didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.

"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all.

"But they were our kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"

But before either of the girls could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harri, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool. She glanced back at Rose who was still getting her robe done.

~Just go. Its fine~ Rose said. Harri gave her a sympathetic look and went to the front of the store to pay.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," the boy called after her.

"What's her problem?" he said turning to Rose.

"She didn't really like the way you were talking about our friend." Rose replied, shifting uncomfortably.

"Oh. Well, what's your name anyway?"

"Um, Rosalie Potter." What harm could it do? Everyone was going to know, one way or another.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise before he quickly regained his composure. "Really? Are you a relative of Harry Potter's?"

"You could say that." Rose said.

"Well, I'm Draco Malfoy." The boy said proudly.

"You're done now dearie," the assistant said. Rose hopped down from her stool and said goodbye to Draco Malfoy.

Harri and Rose were rather quiet as they ate the ice creams Hagrid had bought them (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).

"What's up?" said Hagrid.

"Nothing," Harri lied.

~Why were you talking to him?~ Harri pestered.

~Because, he wouldn't stop talking to me. Besides, he didn't seem that bad~

~But he's like Dudley, all spoilt and thinking he's the best thing to happen to the world. Plus he's insensitive~

~You're just going off a first impression. How do you know that's all there is to him?~

~I um... He probably would have acted differently if he knew who we were~

~Exactly my point. He was aiming to impress, so he would have done it anyway. He meant to make an impression. For all we know, he could have been just nervous and went completely out of character~

~...~

~I win~

~Not fair!~

They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harri cheered up a bit when she found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Blimey, I keep forgettin' how little yeh two know — not knowin' about Quidditch!"

"Don't make me feel worse," said Harri. She told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's. Rose stayed quiet.

"— and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"

"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were — he's grown up knowin' yer fake name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they thought it was Harry Potter fer a moment. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"

"So what is Quidditch?" Rose piped up.

"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules."

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?" Harri asked.

"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"

"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harri gloomily.

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

"Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" Harri asked.

"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.

They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag the twins away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

"We were trying to find out how to curse Dudley." Rose said.

"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."

Hagrid wouldn't let Harri buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for the girls, Harri examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and Rose looked over minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked their list again.

"Just yer wand left — A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh birthday presents."

The twins felt themselves go red. "You don't have to —"

"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animals. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at— an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer owls. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harri now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. Rose managed to convince Hagrid to let her get a cat instead so she now held a cat carrier with a young grey tom inside. The twins couldn't stop stammering their thanks.

"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivander's left now — only place fer wands, Ollivander's, and yeh gotta have the best wand."

A magic wand… this was what Harri and Rose had been really looking forward to.

The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. The twins felt strangely as though they had entered a very strict library; they both swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to them and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of their necks prickled.

The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. The girls jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," said Rose awkwardly.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harriet Potter and Rosalie Potter." It wasn't a question. "I am one of the fortunate few who know your real identities. You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to the twins. Harri and Rose wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.

"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harri were almost nose to nose. Harri could see herself reflected in those misty eyes.

"And that's where…"

Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harri's forehead with a long, white finger. He then touched Rose's scar.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"

He shook his head and then, to the twins' relief, spotted Hagrid.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.

"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. The girls noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.

"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Miss Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harri.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harri from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Harri suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between her nostrils, was doing this on its own. Rose stifled a laugh. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Miss Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harri took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"

Harri tried — but she had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harri tried. And tried. She had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harri took the wand. She felt a sudden warmth in her fingers.

She raised the wand above her head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.

Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"

He put Harri's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…"

The same process was repeated with Rose until she tried an 10 and a half inch ivy wand with phoenix feather and produced a cascade of silver and gold sparks. Mr. Ollivander wrapped up Rose's wand muttering "Curious... curious..." again.

"Sorry," said Harri, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harri with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave two other feathers — just two others. One resides in your sister's wand. It is very curious indeed that you two should be destined for these wands when their brother — why, their brother gave you those scars."

Harri and Rose swallowed.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you and your sister, Miss Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."

Harri and Rose shivered. They weren't sure they liked Mr. Ollivander too much. They paid seven gold Galleons each for their wands, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as the twins and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty.

"Um, Hagrid," Rose started, "We were just thinking... the Dursleys aren't too happy with us right now. Could we maybe stay somewhere else until term starts?"

"I spose tha' be alright." Hagrid said frowning. "Yeh can stay here, I'll just get Tom teh get yer a room."

A short while later, both girls had brought everything they bought up to a room with two single beds. They went to say goodbye to Hagrid who handed them an envelope.

"Yer tickets fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me…. See yeh soon, Harri, Rose ."

He left the pub and the girls went back upstairs to their room. They ended up pushing the beds together and spent the night reading their books and playing with their new pets.

AN: Phew. Haven't gotten a chapter out for a while, but here is where we start to see differences in the plot. Also I did have to copy some parts from the book due to lack of inspiration for the other bits. My brain is making ideas for this story as well as my other fic and two stories that are just in concept stage right now. Already I am having plot bunnies making a huge warren in my head it's starting to drive me ka-razey. Ugh. The point is yearly exams are coming up at school and I am going to find it harder to write. I could probably rant about this crap all night but I won't.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited my fic thus far.

Please review. I'd love to get some feedback; although "good story update soon" is not what a review is. Not in the slightest. I can't remember which fic it was I got that for but I was not expecting that. It puts pressure on me to try and make people happy and that doesn't make me happy which ends up making my writing bad so no-one is happy.