AN: 5/20/15 Correction a reviewer Fabi pointed out that I said 4 in place of 5 kids getting and replying to the letters. Oops. Idk what I was doing.
To Diagon and then on to Hogwarts.
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Minerva McGonagall loathed this time of year. It was one of those times of the year when the school board and Ministry conspired to give her gray hairs. It was June 15th and the day when all the student letters went out. There were the scores for all 7 years. The OWL scores for the former 5th years. The NEWTS wouldn't be out till the 30th. The hardest part of this time of year was all the letters for incoming first years.
The first letters would go out automatically due to the charmed quill. The muggleborns were the trouble. She would have to shift through all the unanswered letters and then plan personal visits over the next 6 weeks. As the first unanswered letters and letters that were sent back denying the existence of magic came in Minerva looked at the small stack. She stared saddened. Here was tangible proof of the damage the dark lord had done. When she took up the mantle of Deputy there were on average of 40 muggleborns a year with around 200 total students a year. This year there were 10 muggleborn letters and this class would only have around 40 students total. This year and the next would be the smallest in her tenure. Hopefully after that the numbers would rise again.
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All the families were gathered at the Granger residence waiting for the letters to arrive. The Bones', Thomas', Grangers', Lomgbottom's along with Alexander, Sirius, Remus, Cora, Angie and Joann. They were having a BBQ cook out. It was just after the kids got out of the pool, Sirius had magically put in as a surprise for them, when the first owl arrived. This one winged for Hermione and landed on her arm with ease. She took the letter from the bird and offered it a piece of BBQ chicken. The owl took the treat and flew up into a tree to wait for the reply. It took a few minutes for the next owl to arrive. Amelia explained that the owls came by birth day. So Dean was next. HE repeated what Hermione did taking the letter and treating the messenger. Harry and Neville's owls arrived at almost the same time since the boys shared a birthday. Neville was only 2 minutes older than Harry. Susan's arrived not long after the boys. Once all 5 kids had their letters they opened them as one and read them out in sync.
The adults all clapped at their achievement. The 5 attached the acceptance notes they had written last night to the owls and the birds were on their way.
"When can we go to the bookstore?" Hermione asked
"Yeah when can we get real wands?" Neville spoke up
"I can't wait to try making some potions." Harry said
"Prank potions?" Sirius asked
Dean, Susan and Harry shared an evil smile. "Oh course not Uncle Padfoot we would never do something like that." Susan said for them giving the Marauder puppy dog eyes.
Sirius groaned. "I'm the dog I'm suppose to do the puppy eyes." he whined
"But I'm cuter than you." She replied lifting her nose into the air.
Remus laughed at the two. "Of course you are. Besides Siri starting to gray around the edges."
Said man let out a shriek of disbelief. "I am not. IF anyone's aging poorly it's you wrinkle bags." Sirius told the Werewolf who oh so maturely stuck out his tongue in reply.
The other adults chucked at them while Augusta and Amelia just shook there heads.
"You know I feel sorry for Minerva." Amelia said
"Why?" Dan asked
"I'm sure these four will be more trouble than she can handle. I hear there are a couple of Weasley pranksters there too."
"I wounder how long they will go before a prank war breaks out?" Angie asked with a smile. She tried not to encourage Remus and Sirius when they were teaching the children the noble art of pranks but she couldn't help but find it funny.
"I give it a week." Dan piped in
"I say 3 weeks." Alexander replied
"A wager?" Dan asked
"Sure. Loser buys the winner a round at the pub?"
"Deal." The two men shook hands smiling.
Diya leaned over to Emma. "I would have wagered they pull something before they get off the train."
"You and me both. And I say we would have won." Emma replied with a wink. The 2 women chuckled.
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They decided to wait until the first week of July to make the trip. Rachel was coming with them and they were meeting the Abbots and Longbottom's at the leaky. Amelia made them a Portkey because it was the fastest easiest way to transport 14 people. Alexander and Joann were all for giving that a miss. Even with instructions Qadir, Emma and Susan all almost lost their lunch. Thrill junkies Harry and Dean couldn't wait to go again.
The group appeared in the ally behind the Leaky which was the Portkey and apparition point for the whole alley.
By the time those 3 had regained their balance and ensured their stomach would stay put the rest of their group had arrived. There were hugs all around for Hannah whom they hadn't seen in a while. The parents all greeted Shelly and Michael Abbot. The Grangers and Thomas' hadn't seen the other couple since last summer when they all 'happened' to be in the south of France 'coincidentally' at the same hotel at the same time, with rooms on the same floor.
Once greetings were exchanged Amelia showed the children how to open the alley. The children knew they had to be on their best behavior. The 6 kids and 4 muggles were trying to look at everything all at once. The magicals with them kept to the outer edge both guiding and protecting. Though everyone had on robes it wasn't hard to tell the Thomas' and Granger's were not magical.
It didn't take too long to get the Gringotts. When the goblins gave a slight bow the muggles and all the kids save Hanna bowed back earning a slight warming of the goblin's stony faces.
Once in the bank they split into groups. The Bones and Abbot's along with Neville headed for the carts. The Thomas' to the exchange counter and Sirius led the Grangers to a teller so they could met with the Potter account manager Trilok.
The meeting with Trilok had the Granger's off balance and a bit light headed in shock. They never imagined the Potter's were that wealthy. But they also learned that when Harry became of age he could invest any or all of the money in the account, he could only ever withdraw 15 percent of the total per year. This was to encourage the Lord to make there own money and not become lazy living off their ancestors wealth.
Once they had withdrawn enough for both Harry and Hermione's school supplies plus a bit extra for treats the Granger's went back to the lobby to meet up with everyone else. By the time all the shopping was done the adults were exhausted.
"Emma, I must be getting old because that was more tiring than our trip to Disney." Dan said as he climbed into bed that night.
Emma smiled kissing her husband. "You are, but I also think the kids are getting more energetic with age rather than less."
"I think you're right." He replied with a yawn.
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Over the next few days the kids read through their text books, if you could call them that. Hermione was not impressed. These thin little manuals barley contained any information. Only Susan and Harry both agreeing that the classes must be mostly demonstrations and hands on learning curbed her disgust at the poorly written books. They may have told her that but all the kids, even Rachel once she read the books too, were skeptical about the quality of education they would receive.
They didn't know it but 4 purebloods living on the other side of the country were having the exact same thoughts. Not for the first time Rodolphus was ashamed of his world. That muggle 11 year-old's were receiving a higher standard of education than that of NEWT graduates was embarrassing. He wasn't sure what house his son and his friends would be in but he felt for whoever was in charge of them. The night before the kids were to get on the train he prayed to the goddess of magic that Azrael would be in Ravenclaw. At least Flitwick would be able to handle the never ending questions and doubts.
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AN: Sorry it took so long to post this. My muse decided to be stubborn and refuse to let me work with young Harry.