James woke up very excited. It was the summer before the first of September 1971. Today he would go to Diagon Alley with his parents to buy a wand and everything else that he needed for Hogwarts. James looked at his alarm clock and it was not even 7 in the morning yet. Way too early for leaving already. But he was too excited to go back to sleep now. He guessed that his parents were still asleep and he opened the drawer of his nightstand. He lifted some papers and got one of the old spell books of his father. He looked at it and tried to memorize the different movements and spells.

At 8.30 in the morning his mother came in and said that breakfast was ready. James dressed himself and went downstairs. "Darling, we will leave at ten. So if you still want to take a shower you should do that right after breakfast." James' mother gave her son a kiss on his cheek. "Yes mom!" James said with his mouth full of egg. "Please do not talk with a full mouth." His father said from behind the Daily Prophet. On the front page was an article on how to recognize if people were under the influence of an Imperius Curse. "Are there any more disappearances, honey?" Euphemia asked. Fleamont sighed. "Unfortunately yes. They increase every week I think. The ministry are running around like crazy. They have no idea how to fight this." Euphemia stood behind her husband and put her arms on his shoulder. Fleamont put his hands on her arms and kissed both hands. "We will be fine, honey. Do not worry! We will go with the three of us today and we will only go wherever we need to go." James looked at his parents with big eyes. He wanted to stay the whole day in Diagon Alley, but his mother was scared. He loved his parents very much and he would never want her to worry about him. He swallowed his last bite and said: "I will go quickly shower."

James jumped in and out of the shower. Just a quick freshening up would have to do it for today. He grabbed his backpack and made his bed. A little bit before 10 he came down and saw his parents stand at the fireplace. They would use Floo powder to get to Diagon Alley. It was the fastest way. His father stepped in first and said the destination loud and clearly. The flames became green and he was gone. "Okay honey, it is your turn. I will follow behind you. Please say it loud and clearly! And when you see your father then you step out as well." James rolled his eyes but laughed. "Yes mom, it is not my first time." Euphemia looked at her son. "This is your second. So you have barely any experience. I just do not want that you get lost. It is dangerous enough already." James gave his mother a quick kiss and stepped in to the fireplace. "Do not worry, mom! See you in a minute." He said Diagon Alley, he saw the green flames and the next few seconds he only saw other fireplaces. He slowed down and saw his father. James stepped forward and he stepped into the room where his father was waiting for him.

"Let me dust you off, son." Fleamont began dusting off James' sweater. The flames turned green again and Euphemia stepped out of the fireplace. She gave both her men a quick kiss. "Okay, let us go then! We need to go Gringotts first." They made their way down the street towards the big bank at the end. James never went inside the bank and he was very excited. He had heard crazy stories from his father and friends. Stories about goblins, dragons and booby-traps. Gringotts was one of the safest places in the world, next to Hogwarts of course.

James loved the way down to their vault. His mother seemed nauseous, but she would be alright again. Once outside again they had more than enough money to buy everything. First they went to get a wand. At Ollivanders James had to try five different wands. Eventually the wand that choose him was an eleven inch Mahogany wand. They paid and James was euphoric. He finally had a wand! In less than two months he would be at Hogwarts doing spells with this wand. He just had to control himself now that he would not use it at home. His mother already threatened to lock it up, but he promised her that he can contain himself.

Quickly they did all the next shopping. They got him some new robes, all the books the first year needed and all the extras like a cauldron and ingredients. When they walked pass by the pet shop James asked his father and mother if he could have an owl. They looked at each other and decided that was fine. This one was probably better in shape than the school owls, so they could write each other. James choose a very pretty brown owl, with big yellow eyes. Now he got everything that he needed. They returned to the fireplace and took the Floo powder back home. James was now reading all his books at night to make sure he knew all the new stuff in it.

On the first of July 1971 the Evans family were visited by a teacher from Hogwarts. The doorbell rang and Mr. Evans opened the door. There was a tall, strict looking woman standing in front of them in some weird clothing. "Hello, my name is Minerva McGonagall and I have an important message regarding the young Miss Lily Evans." Mr. Evans let McGonagall in and called his family. "Hello Lily! My name is professor McGonagall and I am a teacher at Hogwarts. I have something I have to tell you and your family." Lily already knew where this was about. Severus had told her several months ago she was a witch and they would get a visit soon. Lily did not tell anyone, but apparently Petunia listened to her conversation with Severus. Petunia did not tell Lily that she heard what that Snape boy told her. Why was Lily the one with magic powers? She wanted them as well. Lily was always better. She got better grades, all their friends liked her better and all the boys were in love with her and not Petunia.

Probably this was some kind of a mistake. Maybe they forgot about Petunia and they just needed to be reminded. She wrote a letter to the headmaster of Hogwarts, but she had no address. She just gave it to the post office. Little did she know how much luck she had that a witch was working there who could forward it by owl. Petunia still had no answer, but she expected one any day now. So when her father called her down for something she was very excited. But the woman only talked to Lily. McGonagall gave Lily the letter and also everything that she already needed for school, except for a wand. They still had to go there themselves. Petunia walked with professor McGonagall of the door, but only did this because she wanted to ask her about her situation. She looked down at Petunia and smiled politely. "You are not a witch, dear. You are a muggle. Hogwarts is no place for you, so you can stay here in this nice place." These sentences hurt her so much. She cried herself to sleep that night.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans were very much surprised and pleased that one of their children was a witch. Of course they had to get used to the idea, but they always knew that Lily was special. Animals loved her, flowers were always blooming around her when she was extremely happy and sometimes things moved for no reason when she was really upset about something. They read the instructions in the letter carefully. They decided that they would go to London that Friday to buy a wand for Lily. One of the letters carefully explained how to get to Diagon Alley and it stated that Lily had to come with them to find the Leaky Cauldron and to pick out the wand. Petunia was listening to her parents discuss their trip to London behind the closed door. She wanted to come with Lily and her parents to London as well, but she had no idea if her parents would have let her go. She will try to figure this out during dinner.

Petunia was feeling a bit cheerful for the first time in a few days. Her parents were planning all along for her to come with them. Lily was so excited to share this moment with her sister. That Friday morning she was so excited she was already awake at 6 am. She tried to contain herself but at 6.45 am she was unable to stay in bed any longer. She walked quietly to the bathroom and decided to take a shower before everybody else got up. The warm water on her body calmed her down a bit. She was taking her time with washing her hair, her body and drying herself. After that she got dressed and started drying her hair. Her red hair was so thick this took a proper amount of time. When she got out of the bathroom breakfast was already out.

After breakfast everybody grabbed their coats. Mrs. Evans made sure all the letters were safely put away in her bag. And the whole family stepped into the car to drive to London. They parked the car and it was now up to Lily to find the Leaky Cauldron. It was that probably the Evans family must have had something magical in them to see it, but still this was way too difficult to spot. Lily found it easily, since she was a full witch. But Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans and Petunia would have never found this. They walked in and were looking around carefully. It was a dark bar, where just two people were sitting. They both looked weirdly at the Evans family. Uncomfortable, but brave Mr. Evans stepped forward. "We need to access Diagon Alley. Where is the brick wall?" The barkeeper looked at him for a few seconds before he nodded with his head to the other side of the café. The Evans family quickly moved to the door on the other side. Mrs. Evans pulled the letter out of her bag and tapped with her finger three times on one particular brick. Nothing happened. The Evans' looked at each other with some sheepish look. "Maybe I should try it?" Lily suggested. She tapped the same brick three times. Still nothing happened.

A weird feeling came over Lily. Was this some kind of joke? So far only the café was correct, but what if this was just a stupid joke? Or that this was the right way, but she just had not the ability to get to Diagon Alley. Maybe Lily was not with enough to pull this off. "You folks need a hand?" A harsh voice behind them asked them. It was the bartender. He did not wait for their answer and walked up to the wall. He pulled out his wand and tapped the brick three times. They heard a click and the wall started moving. After a few seconds an entrance appeared and what they saw was amazing. There were so many wizards and witches on the street and everybody was wearing different colors. The shops were in different sizes, some of them were leaning almost diagonally. And that is when it hit Lily with Diagon Alley. Clever, she thought. And funny. She looked at Petunia. Her eyes were big and she was looking at everything. Lily gave her a small push and looked at her. Petunia smiled brightly. Lily gave a deep sigh. Petunia was loving it already. "Thank you, sir. What is the fastest way to get a wand?" Asked Mr. Evans. "Take here a right here and just keep walking for about 5 minutes until you see Ollivanders. But maybe you would want to visit Gringotts first to exchange some money. It is the big white building at the end of the street." He turned around and walked back inside the café.

The Evans family took a right and looked deeply impressed to everything around them. Sometimes they stopped at windows to look. Especially the pet shop was interesting to watch. All the different kind of owls, cats and other animals. First they exchanged some money into Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. The Evans family were impressed and a bit scared with the employees of Gringotts. When they had some money they left go purchase a wand. When they found Ollivanders they went inside. Choosing a wand was a spectacular experience. She got to try different ones and every time she gave a swoop something happened. Lily was getting more and more excited to go to Hogwarts. Eventually the wand that choose her was a 10¼ inch, made of willow. "This one will do exceed in Charms, Miss Evans." Ollivander told them. Petunia wanted to ask if she could try some wants as well, but she was scared. What if the old man told her the same as that professor? So she kept her mouth shut and hoped that she maybe could borrow Lily's sometimes.

The family returned to their car and made their way back home. Along the way they stopped for some food. "Are you excited to go to this school, honey?" Mrs. Evans asked Lily. "Very mom! It is still a bit weird that I am a witch, but after today I am really curious what I can do." Mr. Evans gave her a pet over her head.