CHAPTER 2
"Right, first stop Gringotts Bank, Let's hope they haven't given away all my money" Des said smiling to his wife. On the way there Lucy listened with one ear to her Father explaining about the shops and people they were passing as she tried to look in a hundred directions at once to see everything. Ollivander's wand makers, Flourish and Blott's the book shop Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions, the list went on and got more bizarre as they walked.
Des left them to go to the bank and when he returned looking windswept he led them to Fortiscue's a café of sorts where they ate Ice cream and discussed the passers by.
"Well Lucy, what do you think?" he asked.
Lucy knew the moment had come, all their futures would be affected by her decision, "Um I'm not going to grow a huge pointy nose and boils if I go to this school am I?" Lucy laughed nervously, "Only I notice a lot of the women or witches are a bit...well you know.odd looking".
Her father laughed "No Lucy you will still be your beautiful self, trust me, after all I don't have boils do I? You know, you can always come home if you hate it. But I have a feeling that once your there we'll be lucky to see you at holidays, you might not want to leave"
Lucy looked at her mother then her father and said quietly "okay I'll give it a try."
This was all her father was waiting for, in a flurry of activity they had sent an owl with a letter to Hogwarts, bought robes, books, potions ingredient, which Lucy hoped fervently she would never have to actually drink, their last stop was the wand makers.
As they stepped into Ollivander's, Lucy felt as though she had gone back in time, the shop seemed very old and dusty with hundreds of slim boxes piled haphazardly on shelves that reached right up to the ceiling.
An old man popped up from behind the counter and stared at her father in disbelief. "But it can't be. Diogenes Hipworth .we thought you were dead." He said in a quiet voice, then without waiting for an answer he transferred his attention to Lucy. "Well step forward dear I have to measure you."
Lucy stepped forward nervously and jumped as a tape measure started to measure her on its own. Feeling like she shouldn't really be amazed at anything anymore she failed to notice that Mr Ollivander had snatched the tape away and was handing her a box.
"Let's try this one Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches" he waited for Lucy to do something, Lucy looked at her father who made a little flicking movement at her so she copied him and nothing happened. "No.well how about this one, mahogany nine inches with a dragon heartstring."
Lucy took this one but before she could move it at all she felt a warm sensation tingling up her arm, when she turned to look at her father questioningly, sparks flew out the end of her wand and she almost dropped it in surprise.
Rather than being concerned, her father looked pleased and Mr Ollivander let out a little Ha! "Just like your father dear, I expect you will prove very talented at transfigurations. It was a pleasure to see you again Mr Hipworth."
As her dad paid for the wand with more of the strange looking coins he had gotten at Gringotts, Lucy admired her latest gift which as far as she was concerned was the most beautiful piece of wood in the world.
Exhausted Lucy sat between her parents and was soon lulled to sleep by the motion of the train carrying them back home.
The next morning Lucy was half sure she would open her eyes and her bedroom would not have changed a bit, there would be no bright red leather trunk at the end of her bed filled with strange books and even stranger jars of gooey things.
Slowly she opened her eyes and was amazed to see her wand was still on her bed side table and her trunk still at the end of her bed. She jumped out of bed and dived into the drunk rediscovering her books, trying to decide which to read first. Half an hour later she settled for One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, maybe it would explain why she needed all the icky stuff for potions. Lucy heard her mother call her down to breakfast and went slowly with her nose still in her book. . "Good morning angel, did you sleep well?" asked her mother.
"Mmhhmm."
"Are you enjoying that book?" smiled her father.
"Mmhhmm."
"Would you like some eye of newt for breakfast?" enquired her mother politely.
"Mmhhmm.no, err what?" said Lucy finally looking up to see her parents laughing together. "Sorry, but this is very interesting. How much should we have learned before we go Dad?"
"Well all the lessons start at the basics because there are a some muggle born children in every year" he said "but with your memory if you read all your books once, then you should be well ahead of most of the others, including the wizarding children."
"Dad, do you reckon my memory is anything to do with magic?" asked Lucy interestedly.
"Well no actually I think that's just natural talent that allows you to memorize things so quickly, it's not a magic talent that I've ever heard of." her father replied.
"Right" said her mother "breakfast first, magic later."
The family enjoyed their breakfast and after it Lucy started to read through her school books and with her fathers help she even understood some of it. The next few weeks followed the same pattern and by the time September 1st came Lucy felt, although nervous, ready to go to school.
Once again she travelled with her parent to Kings Cross station in London, to pass though a wall on to the Hogwarts train. Lucy's mother kissed her and whispered "do take care and write to us often and if you have any problems Daddy said Professor McGonagall is a very good person to talk to. Alright?"
"Yes Mum, I love you and I'm going to miss you so much" Lucy answered now close to tears as well. Her dad led her into the station, stopping between platforms nine and ten. He took one of Lucy's hands in his and the trolley in the other a walked quickly towards a solid wall, Lucy looked up at him in alarm as the neared the wall, then instead of crashing in to it, they passed right through it!
Lucy turned to stare at the beautiful red steam engine on platform 9 ¾ the sign read Hogwart's express. Des helped Lucy on to the train and into a compartment then he gave her a little velvet pouch with the heavy wizards gold inside, kissed her and said "Darling I know your scared but you really will have the time of your life you know, once you stop being home sick. Mum and I will be waiting for you first letter okay" he smiled at her and squeezed her hand tightly before he returned to the platform. He waited until the train pulled out of the station and the disappeared from view.
"Right, first stop Gringotts Bank, Let's hope they haven't given away all my money" Des said smiling to his wife. On the way there Lucy listened with one ear to her Father explaining about the shops and people they were passing as she tried to look in a hundred directions at once to see everything. Ollivander's wand makers, Flourish and Blott's the book shop Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions, the list went on and got more bizarre as they walked.
Des left them to go to the bank and when he returned looking windswept he led them to Fortiscue's a café of sorts where they ate Ice cream and discussed the passers by.
"Well Lucy, what do you think?" he asked.
Lucy knew the moment had come, all their futures would be affected by her decision, "Um I'm not going to grow a huge pointy nose and boils if I go to this school am I?" Lucy laughed nervously, "Only I notice a lot of the women or witches are a bit...well you know.odd looking".
Her father laughed "No Lucy you will still be your beautiful self, trust me, after all I don't have boils do I? You know, you can always come home if you hate it. But I have a feeling that once your there we'll be lucky to see you at holidays, you might not want to leave"
Lucy looked at her mother then her father and said quietly "okay I'll give it a try."
This was all her father was waiting for, in a flurry of activity they had sent an owl with a letter to Hogwarts, bought robes, books, potions ingredient, which Lucy hoped fervently she would never have to actually drink, their last stop was the wand makers.
As they stepped into Ollivander's, Lucy felt as though she had gone back in time, the shop seemed very old and dusty with hundreds of slim boxes piled haphazardly on shelves that reached right up to the ceiling.
An old man popped up from behind the counter and stared at her father in disbelief. "But it can't be. Diogenes Hipworth .we thought you were dead." He said in a quiet voice, then without waiting for an answer he transferred his attention to Lucy. "Well step forward dear I have to measure you."
Lucy stepped forward nervously and jumped as a tape measure started to measure her on its own. Feeling like she shouldn't really be amazed at anything anymore she failed to notice that Mr Ollivander had snatched the tape away and was handing her a box.
"Let's try this one Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches" he waited for Lucy to do something, Lucy looked at her father who made a little flicking movement at her so she copied him and nothing happened. "No.well how about this one, mahogany nine inches with a dragon heartstring."
Lucy took this one but before she could move it at all she felt a warm sensation tingling up her arm, when she turned to look at her father questioningly, sparks flew out the end of her wand and she almost dropped it in surprise.
Rather than being concerned, her father looked pleased and Mr Ollivander let out a little Ha! "Just like your father dear, I expect you will prove very talented at transfigurations. It was a pleasure to see you again Mr Hipworth."
As her dad paid for the wand with more of the strange looking coins he had gotten at Gringotts, Lucy admired her latest gift which as far as she was concerned was the most beautiful piece of wood in the world.
Exhausted Lucy sat between her parents and was soon lulled to sleep by the motion of the train carrying them back home.
The next morning Lucy was half sure she would open her eyes and her bedroom would not have changed a bit, there would be no bright red leather trunk at the end of her bed filled with strange books and even stranger jars of gooey things.
Slowly she opened her eyes and was amazed to see her wand was still on her bed side table and her trunk still at the end of her bed. She jumped out of bed and dived into the drunk rediscovering her books, trying to decide which to read first. Half an hour later she settled for One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, maybe it would explain why she needed all the icky stuff for potions. Lucy heard her mother call her down to breakfast and went slowly with her nose still in her book. . "Good morning angel, did you sleep well?" asked her mother.
"Mmhhmm."
"Are you enjoying that book?" smiled her father.
"Mmhhmm."
"Would you like some eye of newt for breakfast?" enquired her mother politely.
"Mmhhmm.no, err what?" said Lucy finally looking up to see her parents laughing together. "Sorry, but this is very interesting. How much should we have learned before we go Dad?"
"Well all the lessons start at the basics because there are a some muggle born children in every year" he said "but with your memory if you read all your books once, then you should be well ahead of most of the others, including the wizarding children."
"Dad, do you reckon my memory is anything to do with magic?" asked Lucy interestedly.
"Well no actually I think that's just natural talent that allows you to memorize things so quickly, it's not a magic talent that I've ever heard of." her father replied.
"Right" said her mother "breakfast first, magic later."
The family enjoyed their breakfast and after it Lucy started to read through her school books and with her fathers help she even understood some of it. The next few weeks followed the same pattern and by the time September 1st came Lucy felt, although nervous, ready to go to school.
Once again she travelled with her parent to Kings Cross station in London, to pass though a wall on to the Hogwarts train. Lucy's mother kissed her and whispered "do take care and write to us often and if you have any problems Daddy said Professor McGonagall is a very good person to talk to. Alright?"
"Yes Mum, I love you and I'm going to miss you so much" Lucy answered now close to tears as well. Her dad led her into the station, stopping between platforms nine and ten. He took one of Lucy's hands in his and the trolley in the other a walked quickly towards a solid wall, Lucy looked up at him in alarm as the neared the wall, then instead of crashing in to it, they passed right through it!
Lucy turned to stare at the beautiful red steam engine on platform 9 ¾ the sign read Hogwart's express. Des helped Lucy on to the train and into a compartment then he gave her a little velvet pouch with the heavy wizards gold inside, kissed her and said "Darling I know your scared but you really will have the time of your life you know, once you stop being home sick. Mum and I will be waiting for you first letter okay" he smiled at her and squeezed her hand tightly before he returned to the platform. He waited until the train pulled out of the station and the disappeared from view.