"I have to go to Gringotts," Usagi said, absently, still staring at the many interesting shops and beings on the street.
"It's this way," the man said, striding through the arch.
Running to catch up with the man, Usagi said, "What's your name? I'm Usagi Tsukino."
"My name is of no importance to you right now, and will mean nothing to you. And I knew who you were," he said, shortly.
"How-?" Usagi began, but he cut her off.
"I'm not telling you, and it's of no importance to you right now."
"You keep saying it's not important right now… will you tell me later?" Usagi asked, gazing up at him with her sky blue eyes that perfectly matched her shirt and were only enhanced by the navy blue, knee-length skirt and the same color hair ribbons wrapped around the identical little buns.
"I won't tell you, but you will find out."
Usagi remained silent. This strange man only baffled her, and she knew that to inquire after his name any more would yield no different results than her last two attempts. He was stubborn.
"Will you be needing me any more after you leave here?" he asked suddenly. Usagi had not noticed that they had reached a large white building… she had been too busy gazing at her surroundings. Mutely, she shook her head. "Good-bye then, Little Rabbit," he said, and disappeared.
"Little Rabbit?" Usagi asked herself blankly. "Where'd he get that?" Asking herself was no help, however, so she raced up the steps and pushed open the great doors into Gringotts bank. It was filled with the strangest creatures she'd ever seen.
She heard a voice behind her say, "Yeah, that's a goblin," and turned to see that a gigantic man had mounted the steps behind her, with a boy that Usagi recognized as Harry Potter.
She opened her mouth to greet Harry, but a sharp voice from beside her said, "Can I help you?"
"I need my muggle money changed to wizard money," she said to the goblin at the nearest desk (who had spoken to her).
"Hand it here, then," the goblin said. He began to count out the money he was handed, leaving Usagi free to gaze around. She saw Harry at the far end of the hall, leaving through one of the side doors, too far away to call to.
"Done," the goblin said crisply, handing Usagi a large pouch filled with coins that jangled.
Before she walked away, she checked inside to see what the strange money looked like. She noticed that there were only three types, and turned once more to the goblin to say, "What are these called?"
The goblin looked up, surprised, and said, "Galleons, Sickles and Knuts," before returning to the task he had begun.
"Um… which one is which?"
"Gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts," the goblin said without looking up from his work.
"What are each worth?"
"There are seventeen Sickles to a Galleon, and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle," the goblin said. "Good day."
Usagi simply turned and walked away after this abrupt good bye. She stuffed the pouch into her small backpack with some difficulty, and fished out her supplies list (which she hadn't glanced at before). It read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black) One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) One set of dress robes (color of choice)Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (peweter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
"I think that I should like to start with my wand, so I can go talk to my mother if I need to, and be able to get back into the Alley," Usagi reasoned out loud.
The wand shop was strange and magical… Usagi could feel the power pouring off the shelves and swirling around her, almost see different coloured sparkles all about her.
"Hello," said a voice from behind the counter. A man with piercing eyes straightened up, twirling a wand in his fingers. "So, we've got another first year for Hogwarts, eh? Well then, child, what's your name?"
"I'm Usagi Tsukino," Usagi replied, somewhat shyly.
There was a shocked look on the man's face, much like the one the tall man had worn in the Leaky Cauldron. It cleared quickly, however, and she almost thought she'd imagined it.
He began handing her wands immediately, but none of them worked for her. She tried dozens… then scores… she even began to try them into the hundreds. Even Mr. Ollivander, who usually enjoyed the tricky customer, was growing weary of handing the girl wands.
"Let's try this, then," he said dully. He held out a pale pink wand, with light yellow crescent moons and starts decorated all over it.
Usagi took the wand, and was almost knocked out by the amount of power she felt coming from the wand. She waved it just the tiniest bit, and blue bubbles, pink hearts, and yellow crescent moons exploded from the tip, showering Mr. Ollivander and herself with sparkles.
"Well well, I'd say that this wand is a very good match for you… a VERY good match… it's never worked for anyone else at all… most wands will work a bit for several people, and the best for one, but this wand has never worked for anyone else. It's made of Unicorn Hair and Yew, 9 inches long."
"Thank you Mr. Ollivander," Usagi whispered, hardly audible. She paid him and wandered off to the bookstore.
"Ex-excuse me," she said tentatively to a lady who was straightening up some shelves.
"Yes, dear?" the lady asked kindly.
"Could you help me find some books? I need these for school, and Mrs. Figg suggested I find some history books, too," Usagi explained quickly.
"Of course!" the lady took the list that Usagi held, and flitted about the store, returning a few minutes later, arms laden with books. Indicating the top two, she said, "These are the best two history books for someone who was muggle born, and the rest are your school books. Now let's check you out so you can complete your shopping!" Usagi stammered her thanks as the lady tied a string around the box she had packed the books into, and left to find her robes.
She had great joy in finding the prettiest robes she could. After discarding several robes in shades of green, blue, and yellow, she was caught trying to decide between two pink ones. On was bright pink with yellow trimmings, and the other was pale pink (like her wand), with light yellow moons and stars dotted here and there on it. She finally decided on the second one, thinking that at least it would match her wand. She also found a hat section, and selected a tall, pointed wizard's hat to match her robe. Then she went up to the lady behind the counter to ask for help with the rest of her robes, and was soon being fitted. There was a pale boy with even paler hair beside her, who was beginning to look impatient.
"I've been standing here for over ten minutes!" he exclaimed angrily to Usagi. "I already have talked to a boy, and he's gone… by the way, my name is Draco Malfoy."
This boy intimidated her, but bravely Usagi said, "I'm Usagi Tsukino," and put out her hand.
Ignoring the hand, Malfoy just stared at her incredulously. "You really shouldn't joke about that," he said uncertainly. "What's your real name?"
"I just told you!" said Usagi, growing indignant. "Why does everyone look like they've seen a ghost when they find out who I am?"
"Because they think they have," he said, quietly. Thankfully, he was finished, and Usagi expected him to leave right away, but instead he turned back to her. "Do you really not know?"
"Not know what?"
"Who you are… who your mother is…"
Usagi thought that this boy was crazy, and was about to say so when the lady fixing her robes up said, "You're done now, dear." Usagi turned and paid her, and the boy was gone when she looked around again.
"Thank heavens!" she exclaimed to herself.
Usagi found a store to buy the rest of the required supplies, then quickly ran out to ask her mother if she could purchase an owl. Her mother consented, so Usagi flew back to Diagon Alley. She entered a shop called Eeylops Owl Emporium, and gazed around at all the beautiful owls she could see. The shop was split in half, boy owls on one side, girls on the other, so Usagi browsed along the girl's side.
She stopped before the snowy owls, and gazed at them. They were by far the most beautiful owls in the store. She spotted one in a golden cage. It had intelligent blue eyes, the same color as Usagi's, and a more beautiful and elegant sense about it than any of the others had.
She walked over to the owl's cage and said, "Would you like to come home with me?"
Usagi nearly fell over when the owl said, "Yes, very much. What's your name?"
"I'm U-usagi…" Usagi stammered, regaining her balance. "What is your name?"
"Hazeka. Are you going to bring me home? I believe that your mother is waiting for you…"
"Oh! Right," Usagi said, blushing at being reprimanded by an owl.
Hazeka continued to chatter away while Usagi was paying for her, and wondering if the man behind the counter could hear the owl as well, said, "Can you hear something?"
Looking up curiously, the man said, "No."
Hazeka hadn't stopped talking the whole time.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Later, in her own room, Usagi broached a question to Hazeka.
"Am I the only one who can hear you?" she asked timidly of the wise bird.
"You are one of the few. You have the gift to speak to animals, I saw it right off. That's half the reason I agreed to come home with you."
"What's the other half?"
"I liked you," Hazeka replied simply.
"I'm glad…" Usagi trailed off as she read the shorter of the two history books late into the night. As she turned off her bedside lamp, her last thought was Why did they all look at me so oddly? Maybe Hazeka knows… and then she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The next weeks flew by in a whirl for Usagi. She'd read through all her school books once, and the two extra history books several times. The day before her departure for Hogwarts, she packed her trunks with all her school supplies and her favorite muggle clothes. She went to sleep contented, but had a horrible dream…
She was riding on the back of a great stag, when suddenly she burst out into an open clearing. A woman who looked remarkably like herself was kneeling by a great lake, trailing her fingers in the water with a dreamy look in her eyes, when two men approached. One looked a lot like the boy she'd met in the robe shop, and the other like the tall man who had helped her earlier.
"The time has come to choose between us, Queen," the man who looked like Malfoy said.
"We have both agreed to accept your choice, and will not do anything to the other if he is chosen," the tall man said, kneeling.
"We pledge this to you as well, Queen," the other said, kneeling next to the tall man.
"I-I can not," the girl said in a broken voice. "I can't hurt either of you!"
"Choose, Queen," said the one that looked like Malfoy.
"Choose, my love," said the tall one.
The girl began to sob uncontrollably, and then her sobs turned into high-pitched laughter, and then the screech of Hazeka as she was brought back to conciousness. She rolled over and looked at the clock. It read 9:30, so she decided to get up and check that everything was ready to go.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Sorry if this is confusing, but all of it will be really clear soon. I also am somewhat hoping that it won't be so drawn out from now on, and I'll be able to skip around more because you'll all (hopefully) know what's going on with Harry… Hazeka means rabbit, that's where I got that, in case you were wondering ;-) (which you probably weren't)
Please, review! I'd appreciate it sooo much!
~**Rini**~