"Hm, so this is it?" Ciel looked at the unsuspecting pub. The sign said that it was called 'Leaky Cauldron'. "It's rather conspicuous, isn't it? I wonder why these people don't notice it." He gestured at the passerby.

"Humans are ignorant creatures, Master. They only see what they wanted to see and ignore the rest. With a little bit of magic, you can easily hide anything from them. Just like what we're doing." Sebastian said as he pushed open the pub door for Ciel.

They entered the pub and could immediately felt the change in the air. The place was buzzing with energy, magical energy, and the two demons could feel it like a low frequency of electricity current coursing through their bodies. Demons were more sensitive to magic and the supernatural, after all.

A few days ago, another letter had arrived at the Phantomhive-Michaelis household. Inside, Ciel had found his acceptance letter from Hogwarts, along with detailed instructions of what to do before he departed for school and the list of things that he'd need. Apparently, a fund had been set aside for him from the school so that he could buy his school supplies.

"You have the list?" Ciel asked.

"Yes, sir." Sebastian patted his coat pocket.

"Come on then." Ciel said and they went to the back. They stepped outside and faced the brick wall. Sebastian knocked on the correct bricks and the wall opened up.

They started walking along the cobbled street. Despite himself, Ciel was impressed by what he saw. These were not at all like anything that he had ever seen in his life before. People dressed in robes were walking around, carrying various bags. All around them, there were shops selling all sorts of magic stuff, cauldrons, broomsticks, and others.

"I think we need to get some money first." Ciel said. "Let's go to the bank. Now, which one do you think…" He trailed off when he noticed that his butler was no longer behind him, but was standing in front of a display window of a shop. "Sebastian? Oi! What are you doing?" He approached the older demon to see what was up and groaned upon seeing what had attracted his butler's attention.

There, in the display window, sat a tabby cat, licking its paw.

"No." Ciel said when Sebastian turned to him with a hopeful expression. "We are not going to get a cat, magical or not. Now, come."

Sebastian reluctantly followed his master, but his gaze lingered a little longer at the cat.

They reached the bank - it was quite easy to find it as the white building was taller than the rest - and went inside.

"Well, this is new…" Ciel said. "What are those?"

"Goblins, sir." Sebastian said in low voice. "Smart as whips and good with coins and metal."

They approached one of the counters.

"Good morning. We're here to collect some fund provided by Professor Dumbledore for Mr. Ciel Phantomhive." Sebastian said.

The goblin regarded them. If he noticed anything strange, he didn't say anything. "Do you have any letter and the key?"

"Right here." Sebastian produced an envelope and handed it over to the goblin, who gave it a quick read and nodded.

The goblin called out for another goblin to escort them to 'the vaults'. They entered through one of the many, many doors, and found themselves in a narrow passageway. The goblin whistled and a cart arrived only seconds later and they got on.

The cart moved along the rails on its own and Ciel was reminded of the rides that he usually saw at amusement parks. Finally, after numerous turns, the cart stopped in front of a small door and everyone got off.

"The letter, please." The goblin held out his hand and Sebastian handed the envelope over to him. He read it carefully and then used the key to open the door.

Ciel peered inside curiously. It was filled with coins; gold, silver, and bronze. The goblin took the necessary fund, as directed by the letter, and put them inside the pouch that Sebastian held open.

"Thank you." Sebastian said after the pouch was filled and he stored it. They rode the cart back to the entrance and left the bank.

They started with Ciel's school uniforms since the store was the closest.

"Are you here for your school uniform, dear?" The woman, presumably Madam Malkin herself, asked.

"Ah, yes." Ciel said, not quite happy to have been called 'dear', but couldn't be bothered to say anything.

Ciel was led to the back of the store and was told to stand on a footstool so that his measurements could be taken.

"Please take off your jacket and waistcoat." Madam Malkin said.

Sebastian moved to take Ciel's black jacket off him, followed by his waistcoat, leaving the boy in his white shirt, blue ribbon tie, and black trousers.

Madam Malkin slipped a long black robe over Ciel's head and started to put the pins here and there to get his fitting.

After the lady was done, Ciel stepped down from the stool. Sebastian paid for the uniform and they left the store.

Next, they went to get the textbooks at a shop called Flourish and Blotts. Ciel looked around in fascination at the floor to ceiling shelves overflowing with all sorts of books.

"Hogwarts? Here to get your textbooks?" Someone asked.

"Yes." Ciel nodded.

"Which year?"

"Oh, uh, third year." Ciel said as his butler handed the man the booklist. Dumbledore had told him that he'd be joining as a third year student.

The man read through the list and looked dismayed.

Ciel saw the man put on a pair of very thick gloves. "What's that for?"

"For your book." The man said as he picked up a stick. "Step aside."

Ciel did as he was told and watched as the man opened a cage that contained…

"What the hell is that?" Ciel asked, staring at the 'books'. They had teeth, big and sharp, and they were gnashing at each other in the cage. The man opened it, grabbed one, closed the cage quickly, yelped when he was bitten, and then after some struggle, he finally managed to close it before picking it up and held it out to Ciel.

"I'm not touching that!" Ciel said in horror. Never in his life had he seen a book that bit.

"I shall take that, thank you." Sebastian picked up the book from the man.

Half an hour later, the two demons stepped out of the bookshop with Sebastian carrying a stack of Ciel's textbooks (Thankfully none of the other books bit).

They continued to walk around to buy Ciel's other school supplies, cauldron, parchments and quills, and potion ingredients.

"This place stinks." Ciel said when they entered the shop. "I'll wait for you outside." He said and promptly stepped back out.

While waiting for Sebastian, Ciel saw that a crowd was gathering in front of the display window of a shop called Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"What even is Quidditch?" Ciel wondered as he joined the crowd – mostly children – curiously. There, on the display window, he saw a broomstick. If he were anywhere else, he'd have scoffed at the excitement over a broomstick, but being where he was, he could hazard a guess that this was a flying broomstick. Now, that had piqued his interest. He had never seen a flying broomstick before.

"FIREBOLT' The label read and based on the buzz around him, he could gather that this was the newest model, the fastest, and the best.

After he had had enough of being jostled around, Ciel started to make his way out of the crowd and bumped into someone, who spilled a cup of brown liquid all over his shirt.

"Watch it!" Ciel yelled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Ciel saw that he had bumped into another boy around his age with messy dark hair and a pair of green eyes behind his rounded glasses. He was taller than Ciel and was wearing grey T-shirt, jeans, and checkered shirt, with a pair of old sneakers on his feet.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine." Ciel took out his handkerchief and started to wipe his shirt. "What's this?" He could smell tea, but over here, one would never know. He hoped it wasn't some magical drink that would leave a stain on his shirt forever. His butler wouldn't be happy.

"It's tea." The boy said. "God, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking."

"It's fine." Ciel said. "Just try to be more careful."

"Yes, of course." The boy looked genuinely sorry. "How about I buy you an ice cream? You know, as an apology."

Ciel considered it only for a moment before agreeing. "Alright." He wouldn't say no to ice cream.

"Great! Come on!" The boy said and started to lead Ciel away. "I'm Harry, by the way, Harry Potter."

'So this is the famous Harry Potter…' Ciel thought. "I'm Ciel Phantomhive." He introduced himself.

"Ciel? That's an unusual name. Are you not from around here?"

"I was born and raised in London." Ciel said. Technically, he wasn't lying, was he?

"Sorry, I just never met anyone named Ciel before. Are you a student at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, for now." Ciel said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Harry asked as they stopped in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and sat down at one of the outdoors tables.

"I'm new. This would be my first year." Ciel explained. 'And hopefully the only one too.' He continued silently.

"Are you a first year student?" Harry looked at him sceptically. "Sorry, it's just you look like my age and I'm in my third year."

"So am I. The headmaster has made a special arrangement for me. I wasn't able to attend school before due to… circumstances." Ciel lied.

"Oh, I see. Well, then let me be the first one to welcome you to Hogwarts. I'm sure you'll like it there." Harry smiled widely as someone brought them the menu. They placed their orders and then chatted as they waited for their ice cream.

"Can I ask you something?" Ciel asked.

"Sure."

"What is Quidditch?"

Harry smiled widely. "It's a sport. You've never heard of it before?"

"Never. I'm kind of new to this."

"Don't worry. I was just like you." Harry said. "I didn't know anything before I got to Hogwarts. My parents died when I was a baby, you see, so I didn't even know that I'm a wizard before I got my acceptance letter from Hogwarts when I was eleven."

"Sorry." Ciel said because that was the polite thing to say.

"Thanks. But how about you? If you don't mind me asking. Are your parents Muggles?"

"What is Muggle?" Ciel asked confusedly.

"That's what we call non-magicians." Harry told him.

"I guess so?" Ciel said. "I mean they didn't have magic. They're gone, so it's not like I could ask."

"I'm sorry." It was Harry's turn to offer his condolences.

"It's fine." Ciel assured him. "It was a long time ago."

"We're kind of similar, don't you think? We're both orphans and we didn't know anything about magic before Hogwarts. Did Professor Dumbledore find you?"

"Yes, sort of." Ciel nodded as their ice cream arrived.

They started eating. As a demon, Ciel's sense of taste had changed, but he could still taste sweetness, much to his relief and delight.

"Young Master!"

Ciel turned and saw Sebastian hurrying over to them.

Harry turned too and looked confused. "Young Master?"

"That's Sebastian, my butler." Ciel said.

"Butler?" Harry parroted dumbly. "You have a butler?"

By then, Sebastian had reached them and eyed Harry curiously.

"This is Harry Potter." Ciel said, putting a slight emphasis on the name, knowing that his butler would understand.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Potter." Sebastian greeted the boy.

"Likewise, Mr. Sebastian."

"Please call me Sebastian, sir." The demon said pleasantly. "Thank you for keeping my young master company."

"Oh, not at all." Harry blushed slightly. "I actually spilled my tea on him."

"So, anything I need to know before I get to Hogwarts?" Ciel asked.

"What have you bought?" Harry asked, looking at the items sitting by Sebastian's feet. "Oh, you got the book too?"

"The book that bites, yes." Ciel said and Harry laughed.

"It's your first year, right? Have you gotten your wand?"

"Do I really need to?" Ciel asked, but the question was directed more at his demon. Demons didn't need any wand to use magic.

"It's part of the basic essentials." Harry said. "You won't be able to do any magic without one."

"I see." Ciel said. "No, I haven't gotten any."

"I can take you there, if you want. And help you with other stuff too. Oh, earlier you asked about Quidditch, right? It's a wizarding sport." Harry then started to explain what Quidditch was all about and proudly told them that he was the Seeker for Gryffindor.

"So you're in Gryffindor?"

Harry nodded. "I am. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Every house is different and unique in their own ways. The sorting hat will sort you and put you in the appropriate house. A bit of advice, you could actually make a request. It's not always granted, but you can, if you want to. I did. I didn't want to be put in Slytherin and I said so, and the hat put me in Gryffindor."

"Why didn't you want to go to Slytherin?" Ciel asked curiously.

"Um… Slytherin is, well…" Harry looked uncomfortable. "I don't want to say bad things about others, but the students there are not the nicest."

"Like, the bad crowd?" Ciel asked.

"Something like that. But you didn't hear it from me, ok?" Harry said.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you."

After they finished their ice cream, they went to get Ciel a new wand.

"This is the best wand shop." Harry said as they stopped in front of Ollivanders. "I got my wand from here too."

They entered the shop and Ciel saw rows and rows of shelves, filled with long boxes. A man was standing behind the counter and turned to look at them when the door opened.

"Oh, if it isn't' Mr. Potter, eleven inches, holly, phoenix feather." Ollivander greeted them. "I trust the wand has served you well?"

"Very well, Mr. Ollivander." Harry said politely.

"So, why are you here then?"

"Oh, I'm not here to buy anything, sir." Harry said. "This is Ciel Phantomhive and he's here to get his wand."

Mr. Ollivander looked at Ciel, as if appraising him. "Which one is your wand arm?"

"My what?"

"He's asking if you're right handed or left handed." Harry explained.

"Oh, I'm right handed." Ciel replied.

"Hm, let's see…" Ollivander turned and shuffled through several boxes before pulling out a long box and presented it to the slate haired boy. "Thirteen inches, aspen, dragon heartstring."

Ciel stared at the wand, not sure what he was supposed to do with it.

"Just pick it up." Ollivander said. "The wand chooses its owner, not the other way round, so you'll feel it when you find the right one."

"Okay…" Ciel carefully picked it up and it shot out a spark of light that hit the shelf behind Ollivander, sending the boxes crashing down to the floor. "Not that one, I guess." He put the wand back inside the box.

Ciel tried and tried, but even after a dozen of wands, he still couldn't find the right one.

"Are we not supposed to use one? Because if we're not, then this is just a waste of time." Ciel whispered to Sebastian in a low voice, not loud enough for anyone else to hear, even Harry who was standing not two metres away.

"No demon has ever used one, so I don't know." Sebastian replied. "You'd be the first one of our kind to do this."

Ciel sighed.

"Another picky customer, it looks like." Ollivander said and Harry smiled.

"It took me many, many tries before I found mine too. Yet another similarity between us, Ciel." Harry told his new friend.

Ciel just smiled tightly.

Twenty five wands and a dozen of explosions later, Ciel finally found it. The moment he held it, it shone brightly and he could feel… something. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt… right to hold it in his hand, as if the wand was made especially for him.

"Twelve inches, beech, phoenix feather." Olivander said in triumph. "The wand will be difficult to master, but once you've mastered it, it will serve you very well, Mr. Phantomhive."

"Uhm… Thanks?" Ciel stood there awkwardly.

They paid for the wand and moved on to get the rest of Ciel's school supplies before they parted ways with Harry.

"I'll see you at King's Cross, okay? Platform 9 3/4! Remember, the train leaves at eleven sharp. Don't be late." Harry said.

"Sorry, what platform again?" Ciel asked in confusion.

"You'll find it, I'm sure!" Harry said, grinning widely.

With that, the two demons left and went home.