Chapter Eleven – I See the Light
or I'm in bookish heaven... oh and Hedwig!

We stopped in Amanuensis Quills to buy some nice quills and supplies for them (like keeping them sharp and neat), Scribbulus Writing Instruments where we got some nice ink in different colours and Snape allowed me to get a few colouring pencils and normal pencils for drawing when I told him I liked to draw. I didn't draw well in my opinion and could only draw anime figures, but it's a nice hobby to have, right?

Then we stopped in Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to buy me a nice set of scales, a quality telescope and other knicks and knacks I needed for school.

There was even a small arts and crafts store that I begged Snape to let me browse and we left with a nice crochet set and a whole lot of yarn for it. I loved crocheting in my past life and wanted to crochet some nice, warm, socks for Dumbledore at Christmas and other friends I might get.

We also stopped at a trunk shop, where instead of the usual Hogwarts one compartment trunk that was on sale, Snape got me a nice three compartment one with some neat spells on it, like a shrinking spell, a featherweight charm, and a locking charm so only I could open the trunk. In the first compartment was a nice wardrobe where I could hang my new clothes in, the second compartment was a library one that came with a catalogue spell (whenever you out a book inside it, it got catalogued on a piece of parchment and then you could just summon it out by saying its title) that would come in useful since I intended to buy a lot of books. I'm a bookworm, sue me. The last compartment had a nice spell that made it bigger on the inside (like the TARDIS!) and I could put all my other things inside it.

Our next stop was Flourish and Blotts where Snape gave me free reign after seeing how excited I was about looking at all the different books in the store, while he went to the register and requested the set of books for my first year at Hogwarts. Soon after getting lost among the shelves, I realized that the store didn't use the Dewey Decimal system most libraries in the world used – but I guess I should have expected that since this was the Wizarding World.

Instead, the bookshelves were just sorted by their subject. I decided to start with the book titles I knew and found interesting while reading the Harry Potter books.

In the end, I ended up with this pile of books: Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms, Important Modern Magical Discoveries, Notable Magical Names of Our Time, A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry, Jinxes for the Jinxed, Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms, Chadwick's Charms Vol I-VII, Powers You Never Knew You Had and What To Do With Them Now You've Wised Up, Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland, Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions, Asiatic Anti-venoms, Sites of Historical Sorcery, Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Fundamental Laws of Magic, Rune Dictionary, Self-Defensive Spellwork, A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions, Numerology and Gramatica, The Healer's Helpmate, Where There's a Wand There's a Way, Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, Encyclopaedia of Toadstools, Achievements in Charming, Dream Oracle, Modern Magical History, Hairy Snout Human Heart, Quidditch Through the Ages, Spellman's Syllabary, Practical Household Magic, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Nature's Nobility: a Wizarding Genealogy, Hogwarts: a History and Magical Water Plans of the Mediterranean.

I, of course, avoided anything to do with Gilderoy Lockhart.

Yeah, I know it's a lot of titles. Did I tell you I'm a bookworm and I can read really, really fast? If I tried my best I'm sure I could read those under a month.

Then I went in search of some titles that I haven't heard about. I mostly chose reference books for supplemental reading and some wizarding novels and children's books that I thought would be a good light reading. I made sure to get as many books about the wizarding world as possible. I needed to know about its traditions, laws, and politics. If I wanted to change the Wizarding World for the better, I need to know everything I could get my hands on.

Snape's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into his hair when I came lugging all the books to the register, but he didn't say anything – just read through the titles to see just what I chose. Then, he nodded and the shop clerk happily rang the whole lot up. I think we just made his day with the huge purchase.

Snape went ahead and shrunk the packages and put them in one of his pockets. I would organize everything into my trunk later, he said when I asked him about it.

The last stop before we left Diagon Alley was Eeylops' Owl Emporium where Snape said, "It is your birthday in a few days and students are allowed to bring pets to school. I thought that it would be useful to have an owl so you can communicate with friends you make at school or just have a means to send messages if you ever find yourself stranded somewhere or if there's an emergency." ,

His eyes made sure to let me know that under no circumstances should I ever find myself stranded. Ever.

I was touched by his thoughtfulness once again. I definitively didn't expect that Snape would be the one to buy me my first birthday present.

I just nodded to let him understand that yes, I would do my best not to be left stranded somewhere.

Then we entered the Emporium and I was in owl heaven. So many owls! There were barn owls, screech owls, eagle owls, scops owls, pygmy owls and other species of owls that I didn't recognize. There was only one snowy owl inside the shop and it was already flying in my direction. I raised my arm and she gently landed on it.

It was Hedwig.

"Hedwig," I whispered and the beautiful snowy owl barked gently and snapped her bill as if letting me know she approved.

"Is this normal behaviour for an owl?" I asked Snape as we went to the cash register to buy a cage, a perch and some owl treats for my new owl.

"Wizarding owls are a lot smarter than normal owls and usually, choose their wizards. Not every species of owl, though," the clerk said as he rang us up. "This owl in particular actually flew into our shop a few days ago, almost as if she came here knowing that her new owner would show up soon."

I smiled at that. Hedwig was indeed a very special owl. I brought the arm with Hedwig near to my face and nuzzled her head. Hedwig closed her eyes and let out a small whistle, enjoying the attention.

"Thank you," I said to Snape when we stepped outside the shop. "I love her already."

Snape just nodded but said nothing. I knew though that he was pleased that I liked his gift.

Our last stop for the day was the Leaky Cauldron where Snape quickly and quietly talked to Tom, the innkeeper into getting us a private room so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed and got us some rooms for the night. He had told me that we would be going to the muggle world tomorrow in search of some nice and new muggle clothes and then we had our appointment at Gringotts.

The dinner was nice and quiet and delicious. We both went for a simple serving of lasagne. Snape went for a nice cup of chamomile tea and I chose some lemonade to go with it. For desert, Snape got a small piece of rhubarb pie and I treated myself to some cookies with milk.

After dinner, we sat in front of the fireplace with Snape answering some of my other questions and just spending some time relaxing after a long and tiring day.

At nine Snape escorted me to my room and bid me good night. Before he could turn and go towards his own room, I gathered my courage, reached out to him, and brought my hands around his waist in a small hug.

"Thank you," I mumbled into his stomach. I could tell he was uncomfortable by the stiffness with which he carried himself. However, he still put his hand gently on my head and tousled my hair a bit. I think he knew what I was thinking him for. For saving me. Being nice to me. Understanding me. For everything.

I slept like a baby that night.