Chapter One
The Rescue
"Hermione-Honey there's-there's-there's an owl flying around in your room!" Hermione Granger, top Hogwarts student and best friend to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley who had helped to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort last year at school, despite being born and raised in a muggle (non magical) household, hurried up the stair case to her bedroom where her mother was calling from. She entered her perfectly neat bedroom, brushing her long frizzy brown hair out of her face.
"It's-it's carrying something-" Hermione's mother continued nervously.
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, "Of course it is, mom. That's how witches and wizards communicate, remember-they send owls."
"Oh right-right." Mrs. Granger said, not sounding at all relaxed by this explanation. "Well just-just get it out of here alright?" She asked, as Hermione calmly took the parcel from the owl's tiny claws.
"It's only my notice that school is going to start soon and the list of supplies I'll need." Hermione explained.
"Oh-okay, well, we'll go and get them tomorrow then, honey. We can go to West End Mall, they have everything-"
"Uh, no, mom." Hermione said, shaking her head, "I need magic supplies, you know, you can't just buy them in a muggle shopping mall."
"M-Muggle?"
"Non-magic, mom."
"Oh . . . I see." Mrs. Granger said uneasily, "Well . . . where do you want-where do we go then?"
"We have to go to Diagon Alley." Hermione told her, as she paid the owl a bit and it flew back out the window.
"What?"
"Diagon Alley. I'll show you were it is. We're going to need to go to Gringotts Bank and get some money exchanged for wizard money, too."
"You have your own money?" Mrs. Granger asked in disbelief, and sighed. "Well I know I'll never understand it but . . ."
If Hermione thought that she was having a bad summer, she had no idea what poor Harry was going through. The fact that that he had saved the world and defeated Lord Voldemort in the past year, despite being only eleven years old, was of absolutely no concern to the Dursleys, the relatives he was forced to live with. The yelled at him, threatened him, and bossed him around, thoroughly upset that their attempts to break his spirit and squash his magic-which they found horrendous, being strictly 'normal' people-had failed miserably. They were to busy fawning over their massive whale of a son, Dudely, to really care whether he was alive or dead anyways, actually, they would probably celebrate if he was dead.
So when a tiny snout-nosed, pointy-eared, wrinkly little creature appeared in Harry's bedroom one night he was very relieved to see something from the magical world. The thing told him it was House-Elf named Dobby and that Harry must NOT return to Hogwarts. Naturally, Harry ignored its advice. Even when Harry's Uncle Vernon sealed him completely in his bedroom (not for Harry's safety, just to hurt him) hope came in the form of his old friend Ron, Ron's two trouble making older twin brothers Fred and George, and a flying car that hovered outside of Harry's bedroom window until Harry climbed in. He was quite cramped in to the back, it wasn't that small of a car, but much to Harry's surprise the Weasley twins Fred and George weren't the only ones with Ron in the flying car. Indeed it was quite crowded, but there were two girls with them, they appeared to be a bit younger than Ron and Harry, Harry would have placed them at about the same age as Ginny, Ron's shy younger sister. However, they were nothing like Ginny, they were clearly tomboys with their hair chopped short and spiked up, but they were also very pretty, even in their muggle clothes, plain jeans, t-shirts, and spiked punk-ish bracelets. The two girls, like Fred and George, were identical twins.
"Hey," The one on Harry's left (he was sandwiched between them) said cheerfully, "So you're Harry Potter." She scrunched up her eyes at him for a moment, then relaxed and smiled. "So what do you think of the rescue?"
"Uh . . . it's great. Thanks." Said Harry dumbly, he was still in a bit of shock. "But how-"
"We stole-err, borrowed this flying car from dad." Fred said, grinning from the driver's seat. "He got it from the Ministry, you know, at his job."
"Oh yeah, your dad works for the Ministry of Magic, right?" Harry remembered, it was still a little hard for him to believe that the magical world had everything-including a Ministry of Magic to deal with everything from how to deal with muggles (where Mr. Weasley, a muggle lover, worked) to tracking down dangerous criminal wizards, to organizing wizard sporting events like Quidditch, a game played on broomsticks high in the air.
"But who are you two?" Harry asked the girls.
"Oh! I'm Nadia Kinneas!" The one on his left said.
"And I'm Nafia Kinneas!" The one on his right said, smiling widely, "Our parents are friends with Fred and George's parents. We've been hanging out at their house all summer, and we're gonna go to Hogwarts with them. It's out first year!"
So Harry had been right, he thought, they were the same age as Ginny Weasley, though no where near as shy or timid. These two girls appeared bold and adventurous. Harry rather liked them. Ron on the other hand, kept casting annoyed glances at the bubbly talkative girls for the rest of the ride. As the early morning sun rose, the group landed the car in front of the Weasley's small but welcoming house and everyone piled out and stretched.
"Mom's gonna kill us." Ron sighed, as though just realizing that.
"Yeah, but so what?" Fred said, grinning like a maniac, "She's always killing us over something!"
"Yeah and besides we had to save Harry from those monster muggles!" George added confidently.
When they went into the Weasley house Harry could hardly stop looking around at all of the different magical things. The Weasley's were a very large family who didn't have a lot of money, but their home, to Harry seemed like a wonderful dream, full of magical knick-knacks like self- knitting needles and a clock that told where members of the family were.
At that moment Molly Weasley, the mother of the family barged in, her usually sweet and loving face was frowning, "WHERE HAVE YOU BOYS BEEN?!" She screamed angrily, "Stealing you're father's flying car! And without a licence--! I don't know what to do with you, I-" She went on for a while, yelling at them, pausing to warmly greet 'Harry dear' with a motherly smile, and went back to lecturing the boys. Then she turned to Nadia and Nafia, who were trying to slink away. "And YOU two! Honestly! I would have expected more from you! I have a half a mind to send an owl to Selphie and Irvine right this minute and tell them all about it!"
"Oh mom and dad won't care about that!" Nafia said, but Nadia stepped on her foot and she yelped. Mrs. Weasley gave her a strange look.
"Won't care hmm? Maybe I should just call them and see, I mean do you think you can just behave like that at Hogwarts?!"
"We do!" Fred piped up, to defend the younger girls, "Besides mom we HAD to save Harry, those muggles had him all locked up like in prison!"
Mrs. Weasley looked menacingly at her son and was about to continue her lecture, when thankfully her husband Arthur Weasley came in, he looked busy and sort of funny in his cluttered, hurried way. "Oh hi Harry," He said absently, grabbing a slice of toast from the table for breakfast. "Boys, girls, Molly." He continued, nodding in all of their directions.
The rest of the morning was a hustle and bustle; it was a little amusing for Harry to watch Arthur stuck in his dilemma between wanting to leave the boys alone or siding with his wife in her lecture. Then Ginny came down the stairs for lunch, blushing shyly when she caught sight of Harry. Eventually, somehow or another they made their way to downtown London, and then to Diagon Alley for their magic school supplies.
"Hermione-Honey there's-there's-there's an owl flying around in your room!" Hermione Granger, top Hogwarts student and best friend to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley who had helped to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort last year at school, despite being born and raised in a muggle (non magical) household, hurried up the stair case to her bedroom where her mother was calling from. She entered her perfectly neat bedroom, brushing her long frizzy brown hair out of her face.
"It's-it's carrying something-" Hermione's mother continued nervously.
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, "Of course it is, mom. That's how witches and wizards communicate, remember-they send owls."
"Oh right-right." Mrs. Granger said, not sounding at all relaxed by this explanation. "Well just-just get it out of here alright?" She asked, as Hermione calmly took the parcel from the owl's tiny claws.
"It's only my notice that school is going to start soon and the list of supplies I'll need." Hermione explained.
"Oh-okay, well, we'll go and get them tomorrow then, honey. We can go to West End Mall, they have everything-"
"Uh, no, mom." Hermione said, shaking her head, "I need magic supplies, you know, you can't just buy them in a muggle shopping mall."
"M-Muggle?"
"Non-magic, mom."
"Oh . . . I see." Mrs. Granger said uneasily, "Well . . . where do you want-where do we go then?"
"We have to go to Diagon Alley." Hermione told her, as she paid the owl a bit and it flew back out the window.
"What?"
"Diagon Alley. I'll show you were it is. We're going to need to go to Gringotts Bank and get some money exchanged for wizard money, too."
"You have your own money?" Mrs. Granger asked in disbelief, and sighed. "Well I know I'll never understand it but . . ."
If Hermione thought that she was having a bad summer, she had no idea what poor Harry was going through. The fact that that he had saved the world and defeated Lord Voldemort in the past year, despite being only eleven years old, was of absolutely no concern to the Dursleys, the relatives he was forced to live with. The yelled at him, threatened him, and bossed him around, thoroughly upset that their attempts to break his spirit and squash his magic-which they found horrendous, being strictly 'normal' people-had failed miserably. They were to busy fawning over their massive whale of a son, Dudely, to really care whether he was alive or dead anyways, actually, they would probably celebrate if he was dead.
So when a tiny snout-nosed, pointy-eared, wrinkly little creature appeared in Harry's bedroom one night he was very relieved to see something from the magical world. The thing told him it was House-Elf named Dobby and that Harry must NOT return to Hogwarts. Naturally, Harry ignored its advice. Even when Harry's Uncle Vernon sealed him completely in his bedroom (not for Harry's safety, just to hurt him) hope came in the form of his old friend Ron, Ron's two trouble making older twin brothers Fred and George, and a flying car that hovered outside of Harry's bedroom window until Harry climbed in. He was quite cramped in to the back, it wasn't that small of a car, but much to Harry's surprise the Weasley twins Fred and George weren't the only ones with Ron in the flying car. Indeed it was quite crowded, but there were two girls with them, they appeared to be a bit younger than Ron and Harry, Harry would have placed them at about the same age as Ginny, Ron's shy younger sister. However, they were nothing like Ginny, they were clearly tomboys with their hair chopped short and spiked up, but they were also very pretty, even in their muggle clothes, plain jeans, t-shirts, and spiked punk-ish bracelets. The two girls, like Fred and George, were identical twins.
"Hey," The one on Harry's left (he was sandwiched between them) said cheerfully, "So you're Harry Potter." She scrunched up her eyes at him for a moment, then relaxed and smiled. "So what do you think of the rescue?"
"Uh . . . it's great. Thanks." Said Harry dumbly, he was still in a bit of shock. "But how-"
"We stole-err, borrowed this flying car from dad." Fred said, grinning from the driver's seat. "He got it from the Ministry, you know, at his job."
"Oh yeah, your dad works for the Ministry of Magic, right?" Harry remembered, it was still a little hard for him to believe that the magical world had everything-including a Ministry of Magic to deal with everything from how to deal with muggles (where Mr. Weasley, a muggle lover, worked) to tracking down dangerous criminal wizards, to organizing wizard sporting events like Quidditch, a game played on broomsticks high in the air.
"But who are you two?" Harry asked the girls.
"Oh! I'm Nadia Kinneas!" The one on his left said.
"And I'm Nafia Kinneas!" The one on his right said, smiling widely, "Our parents are friends with Fred and George's parents. We've been hanging out at their house all summer, and we're gonna go to Hogwarts with them. It's out first year!"
So Harry had been right, he thought, they were the same age as Ginny Weasley, though no where near as shy or timid. These two girls appeared bold and adventurous. Harry rather liked them. Ron on the other hand, kept casting annoyed glances at the bubbly talkative girls for the rest of the ride. As the early morning sun rose, the group landed the car in front of the Weasley's small but welcoming house and everyone piled out and stretched.
"Mom's gonna kill us." Ron sighed, as though just realizing that.
"Yeah, but so what?" Fred said, grinning like a maniac, "She's always killing us over something!"
"Yeah and besides we had to save Harry from those monster muggles!" George added confidently.
When they went into the Weasley house Harry could hardly stop looking around at all of the different magical things. The Weasley's were a very large family who didn't have a lot of money, but their home, to Harry seemed like a wonderful dream, full of magical knick-knacks like self- knitting needles and a clock that told where members of the family were.
At that moment Molly Weasley, the mother of the family barged in, her usually sweet and loving face was frowning, "WHERE HAVE YOU BOYS BEEN?!" She screamed angrily, "Stealing you're father's flying car! And without a licence--! I don't know what to do with you, I-" She went on for a while, yelling at them, pausing to warmly greet 'Harry dear' with a motherly smile, and went back to lecturing the boys. Then she turned to Nadia and Nafia, who were trying to slink away. "And YOU two! Honestly! I would have expected more from you! I have a half a mind to send an owl to Selphie and Irvine right this minute and tell them all about it!"
"Oh mom and dad won't care about that!" Nafia said, but Nadia stepped on her foot and she yelped. Mrs. Weasley gave her a strange look.
"Won't care hmm? Maybe I should just call them and see, I mean do you think you can just behave like that at Hogwarts?!"
"We do!" Fred piped up, to defend the younger girls, "Besides mom we HAD to save Harry, those muggles had him all locked up like in prison!"
Mrs. Weasley looked menacingly at her son and was about to continue her lecture, when thankfully her husband Arthur Weasley came in, he looked busy and sort of funny in his cluttered, hurried way. "Oh hi Harry," He said absently, grabbing a slice of toast from the table for breakfast. "Boys, girls, Molly." He continued, nodding in all of their directions.
The rest of the morning was a hustle and bustle; it was a little amusing for Harry to watch Arthur stuck in his dilemma between wanting to leave the boys alone or siding with his wife in her lecture. Then Ginny came down the stairs for lunch, blushing shyly when she caught sight of Harry. Eventually, somehow or another they made their way to downtown London, and then to Diagon Alley for their magic school supplies.