I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING AFFILIATED WITH IT. I ONLY OWN DEVYN AND HER PARENTS. I AM MAKING NO PROFIT OFF OF THIS.

Chapter 4

Almost a week had passed since Devyn and McGonagall met (today being July 3) and Devyn was eagerly awaiting the owl from Professor McGonagall that would let her know when they would be going shopping for her school supplies. Usually, she didn't care much for shopping, but this was different.

They would be shopping for things like a magic wand, and a cauldron, and all these different spell books. Over and over and over again, Devyn had read the list that had come with her acceptance letter. She kept expecting one day to wake up and find that all this - meeting McGonagall, discovering she was a witch, being accepted at Hogwarts - had been a dream.

But it never happened. Each day, she woke up and felt her letter underneath her pillow. She remembered talking to McGonagall. There was no way that this could have been fake.

It was now 12 AM, Devyn realized, looking at her watch. I wonder when McGonagall's owl will -

Tap, tap.

Devyn sat bolt upright in bed and looked over at the nearest window to her. There, perched on the windowsill and tapping on the glass, was a real live owl. Devyn quietly snuck over to the window and opened it for the beautiful bird. She could understand, if her father's nickname was Hoot, and if he liked owls a lot, why he did. They were incredibly beautiful animals.

He hopped in and held out his leg for Devyn. Tied to it, was McGonagall's letter. Devyn shook her head in amazement. She gently untied the letter and unrolled it. She read with a smile on her face as she pet the gorgeous creature sitting in front of her.

Dear Ms. Murphy,

I have reasoned that we should get your school supplies as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the busier Diagon Alley will be. I was thinking this Sunday, July 7th. If you are agreeable, send back the owl with your answer quickly.

Devyn looked at the dark brown owl in front of her. He was a good sized owl, Devyn decided, as he turned his luminescent yellow eyes in her direction. She stroked the bird's soft feathers and he made a sort of cooing noise.

"Do you like that, handsome?" Devyn whispered happily to the bird. He just cooed softly again. She continued reading McGonagall's letter, as she hadn't finished yet.

His name is Mercury. He'll know where to find me. I hope this letter finds out in good health and happy spirits.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Devyn smiled happily to herself. That sounds perfect.

She turned to Mercury and said, "Wait here, Mercury. I need to find a pen and a piece of paper."

The bird did as he was told and waited patiently as Devyn scoured the room as quietly as possible for a writing utensil and some paper.

"Aha!" Devyn cheered softly when she found what she was looking for. She found her book that she had been reading the day she met McGonagall and used the hard surface as something to write on. She walked over to the window where the pale light of the full moon gave her enough visual help to write her letter.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

Thank you for the wishes of good health and happy spirits. I hope the same rings true for you. I am completely agreeable with your suggestion of Sunday. I must admit, when I saw Mercury, I was a little taken aback. After all, I've never seen an owl, never mind one that is delivering a letter. He's a very beautiful creature. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Devyn Murphy

Devyn looked over her letter and nodded, having decided it was good. She took the string that had been holding McGonagall's letter to Mercury's leg and used it to bind her own letter. Mercury held out his leg to Devyn and she said, "Oh, thank you, Mercury."

She smiled at the bird as she gently but tightly tied the letter to his leg.

"Er...take this to Professor McGonagall, okay, Mercury?"

She pet him one last time and he cooed again, this time to let her know that he understood where this letter was being taken. Devyn opened the window for him and he took flight. Devyn watched him until she could no longer see him.

"Well, that's that. Might as well get to sleep."

Over the next four days, Devyn busied herself with thinking about what Diagon Alley would be like. What would it look like? Would she meet any people who had known her when she was a baby?

And then, like lightning, the day came. She got up, got dressed, and read her book until McGonagall showed up. Tessa came into the room and said, "Oi, Murphy, there's a lady downstairs, waiting for you. Told me to come get you."

"Professor McGonagall?"

"I don't know, Murphy. But, if she's a Professor, then they must be carting you off to the nuthouse."

"Haha, you're a comic genius, Rhino," Devyn said sarcastically. Tessa rolled her eyes and Devyn said, "And, anyway, in a little over a month, you may never see me again."

"Really?" Tessa looked a little happier at this thought.

"Yep. Professor McGonagall works at a school. I've been accepted there."

"Oh. Well, I truly mean this, when I say, good for you."

"Are you feeling all right, Rhino?"

"Fine, Murphy. It's just...I heard Higgenbottom tell you that your parents died. Up until then, I thought your parents just didn't want you, like mine didn't want me. At first I felt sorry for you. Some of us will always have the chance to seek out our parents if we ever wanted to. You don't have that chance."

"Parsons -"

"No, let me finish, Murphy. Then I became jealous of you."

"Jealous of me?"

"Yeah. Your parents didn't willingly give you up. You may not be able to ever find them, or get to know them, but they loved you. Mine didn't love me."

"Yes, they did. I'm guessing that your mother was probably a teenager who got mixed up in the wrong crowds and got pregnant. Your dad was probably a teenager too and ran for the hills. I think she was trying to give you the best chance for a better life that she could possibly give you. Maybe, one day, you should try to find her. It couldn't hurt, right?"

"How did you get so wise?"

"It's in my genes, Tessa."

"Right. Well, best of luck...Devyn," Tessa stuck out her hand hesitantly and Devyn deliberated the action for a moment and then shook Tessa's hand.

"I'm not leaving for good yet. Just going out to get school supplies."

"I know. But, we aren't little kids anymore. And if I'm not going to see you again after...?"

"Uh, September 1st, I think."

"Well, if I'm not going to see you after September 1st, I might as well say goodbye and good luck before I lose the courage to."

Devyn nodded and smiled, genuinely smiled, at Tessa. "Well, goodbye, then, Tessa."

And with that, Devyn walked out of the room and down the stairs where McGonagall was waiting. She was wearing dark blue robes this time, but her hair was still drawn tightly in a bun. She smiled when she saw the professor and said, "Hello, Professor."

"Good afternoon, Devyn. Are you ready?"

Although inside, she was running around screaming, 'HELL YES!', she remained quite calm on the outside. "Yep, I am."

"Good. Shall we?"

"Sure."

They walked out of the orphanage and McGonagall led her down the street.

"Uh, Professor, where exactly is Diagon Alley?"

"London."

"Ah. We're not going to walk there, are we?" Devyn asked, fully aware of how stupid her question sounded.

"Of course not -"

"Oh, good."

"-We're going to Apparate there," McGonagall finished.

"Huh?" Devyn said. "We're going to what?"

"We're going to Apparate," she repeated.

"Maybe I should rephrase my question. What does 'Apparate' mean?"

"Disappearing from one place and reappearing in another," McGonagall told her, her tone nonchalant, like she was discussing the weather.

"Wait, we're going to actually...teleport? Like on Star Trek?"

"Like on what?"

"Star Trek. You know, 'beam me up, Scotty'? "I'm a doctor, Jim, not a physicist'? No?"

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Never mind. It's a Muggle thing," Devyn laughed a little at McGonagall's confusion. "But, to Apparate, and I'm guessing the term would Apparition, basically means to teleport?"

"Yes, more or less," McGonagall looked at her, happy that she connected the dots.

"That is so cool!" Devyn said. McGonagall smiled at her and said, "Yes. I remember when I learned of Apparition, I too was quite excited. You will learn that in your Sixth year at Hogwarts. There are seven years all together."

Although Devyn was a little disappointed that it would be years before she would learn it, she was still excited to experience it.

"We will be using Side-Along Apparition in this case. It's plenty faster than using that contraption Muggles call the Underground."

Devyn laughed and nodded. "It probably will be."

They walked down an empty alleyway that was shadowed and out of the sight of Muggles. Devyn guessed it was important that they didn't see this.

"Do you know why we are going down this alley to Apparate?" McGonagall asked her.

"This feels like a pop quiz or something," Devyn joked. McGonagall looked at her, not amused.

"I should tell you, Devyn, I do not tolerate silliness or foolishness in my class. Outside of class, that's different, but as you are going to be my student, regardless of what House you're in, you should know what to expect. Now, please, answer my question."

"Sorry, Professor. We're going down this alleyway because we can't let the Muggles see us. Magic needs to be kept hidden from them."

"Very good," McGonagall said. Devyn smiled, proud of herself.

"Yes, this is a good spot, I should think," McGonagall said, stopping in the darkest part of the shadows. "Are you ready?"

Devyn nodded and McGonagall said, "Very well. Take my arm and hold on tightly. I don't want to end losing you somewhere along the way. I don't want you getting splinched."

"Splinched? What's that?" Devyn asked, getting a feeling that that wasn't so good.

"Means you leave a body part behind when you Apparate. Could be something small and insignificant, like an eyebrow or a fingernail or something, but it could also be something important, like an eye, or a leg, or an arm..."

McGonagall broke off, seeing Devyn's increasingly fearful look. "But don't worry. As long as you hold on tightly, that won't happen. I won't let it."

Devyn just nodded and attached herself to McGonagall's arm. "You're going to feel like you're being squeezed through a tube, but that feeling will only last a couple seconds."

"Okay," Devyn said, closing her eyes.

"Very well. One, two, three."

They spun on the spot and sure enough, Devyn felt like she was being squeezed through a very, very tight tube. And sure enough, it ended in a couple of seconds. Devyn opened her eyes when the feeling ended and was only slightly amazed to see that they had left the alleyway and now were on the doorstep of a place called The Leaky Cauldron.

"How...how did Muggles not see us appear?" Devyn said, weakly. She felt rather nauseous, but swallowed the feeling. It disappeared once she started breathing normally again.

"Muggles cannot see this place. They simply walk past it all the time. We apparated directly onto the doorstep so they wouldn't see us, either."

So, basically a Wizarding World's version of a perception filter, Devyn reasoned in her head.

"Oh. Interesting."

McGonagall nodded and said, "Quite. The entrance to Diagon Alley in through here. Stay close to me. You may not be as famous as Harry Potter, but I'm sure that some people will be quite surprised to see you."

"Oh, okay," Devyn said. She sort of felt sorry for Harry. It didn't seem like he knew about his magical abilities either, which probably meant that he didn't know what he had done as a baby. Which also meant that being famous would be completely new to him. She was glad she wouldn't have to deal with that kind of notoriety.

The pair entered The Leaky Cauldron and walked in fairly unnoticed until the barman said, "Minerva! Good to see you!"

"Hello, Tom," McGonagall greeted him.

"Helping a new student get her things, then, are you?"

"Yes."

"And your name is, love?" Tom asked Devyn. She looked up and said, "Oh, I'm Devyn Murphy."

"The name's Tom, nice to meet you, Dev-" Tom cut himself off, realizing what she had just said. "No, wait, that's impossible. Devyn Murphy, as in Victoria Sullivan and Michael Murphy's girl? You - she - Minerva, she died in the attack! How is she -?"

"Clearly, Tom, she isn't dead. And yes, she is Victoria and Michael's daughter."

Tom looked doubtful but then looked back at Devyn and studied her face for a moment. Just as Devyn was getting a bit creeped out, Tom said, "You're right, Minerva. She's got Michael's eyes."

"I do?" Devyn was shocked by this. She'd always wondered whose eyes she inherited. Now she knew.

"Oh, yeah, your old man had eyes just like you. Lightest blue I've ever seen, only rivaled by Dumbledore himself."

Devyn smiled and Tom nodded, "Oh, look at that! You've got your mum's smile."

At that, Devyn's smile only grew. "Did I hear right?" said a voice that Devyn had never heard before. "Devyn Murphy?"

Devyn turned to the source of this voice and came face to face with a short man in a top hat. He sounded rather nervous but started noticeably when Devyn turned to look at him.

"My dear, it is you! Why, I haven't seen you since you were a baby!"

Devyn smiled and shook the man's hand, although she had no idea who this guy was.

"Oh, but that was such a long time ago! You wouldn't remember me! Dedalus Diggle, at your service, my dear!"

"Nice to meet you, Dedalus," Devyn said, smiling. Although he was a bit overexcited, he seemed nice enough.

"And, hello to you, Minerva!" Dedalus said. McGonagall smiled stiffly and said, "Yes, hello, Dedalus."

Dedalus didn't seem to notice her stiff tone because he carried on happily. Eventually McGonagall had had enough and said, "Yes, well, Dedalus, we need to be moving on. School supplies to get, you understand."

"Of course, of course! Until next we meet, my dear!" he said to Devyn. McGonagall led her outback, where she faced a brick wall.

"He was a bit odd, wasn't he?" Devyn asked McGonagall.

"He's always been like that, actually."

"Oh."

McGonagall started tapping some of the bricks in the wall with her wand. "That should do it...ah, yes, there we go!"

The bricks started moving around until they revealed a fantastic sight. Shops lined the streets, filled to bursting with wizarding equipment. And the streets themselves were filled with bustling witches and wizards, all trying to get their shopping done.

It was one of the most fabulous sights Devyn had ever seen.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Devyn," McGonagall said.