"What now?"

Mercury looked at her checklist, checking off what had been bought so far. "Uniform..."

"We're to pick them up later in the afternoon" Emerald confirmed.

"Cauldrons..."

"Check!" Anime announced, walking out of the cauldron store with two pewter cauldrons on each arm. "Why couldn't we get gold or silver ones? They were prettier..."

"Pewter is quite alright, Miss Fallen." Professor MacGonagall commented.

"Books?"

"After we managed to get you and Em-chan out of there..." Anime commented. "You two were like little kids in a candy store. I never saw you look so happy, Merc."

Mercury ignored Anime's comment. "Phials, telescopes and brass scales?"

"Got them!" Khalida said, indicating the four bags. Professor MacGonagall looked over the equipment and nodded. "Everything seems to be in order so far..."

The strict teacher took a pocket watch from her pocket, reading the face. Pocketing the timepiece, she looked at the four girls assembled before her. "I'm due back at the school for official business in a while. You'll come with me to the Leaky Cauldron and pack away your things. I will return tomorrow morning to assist you in purchasing the rest of your supplies."

"Why can't we get the wands and the rest on our own?" Anime asked, shifting the weight of the cauldrons on her arms.

"Personally, I think there is more to our ways that you need to learn. And I don't think people of your... calibre... will be able to remain out of trouble for very long."

With that, Professor MacGonagall motioned for the bags, levitating them slightly and hovering them in front of her to the inn. The girls walked slowly behind her, throwing each other knowing glances.

Harry glanced up momentarily. He thought he saw Professor MacGonagall in the crowd a minute ago, but she was gone now. Shrugging it off, Harry at his book list one more time, leading Aunt Petunia behind him. She had calmed down quite considerably, and although she kept quite close to Harry, she looked around her curiously, taking in the sights that her sister must have seen when she walked the cobbled street.

"I think we'll get my books first. Just over here..."

The duo walked into Florish and Botts, Aunt Petunia scanning the titles of the shelved tomes as Harry picked out his school books one by one and carrying them around the store. As he was browsed the shelves, Harry inclined his head slightly, a flash of red catching his eye. Quickly turning the corner, Harry grinned.

"Ron!"

Ron Weasley, a boy with red hair and freckles, turned at the sound of his name being called. He grinned and walked over to his friend. "Alright, Harry?"

"Not bad. And you? How's the summer?"

"Not too bad. Percy's spent a week at home. Bruised pride, but at least mum and him are back on speaking terms."

"That's good."

"Anyway, how about you and the Muggles? They better be treating you right."

Harry gave a kind of lop-sided smile. "Well... It's complicated so far. But let's say I have a funny feeling things are working out for the better. Got your books yet?"

"Mum's just getting them. Anyway, what's going on? Why do you think stuff's improving?"

"Well..."

At that moment, Aunt Petunia walked up to the boys. Ron noticed her and his eyes widened slightly. Aunt Petunia seemed to recognise him as well and stiffened slightly. Harry smiled. "I suppose I should introduce you two properly. Aunt Petunia, this is Ron Weasley, my best friend. Ron, you know Aunt Petunia, right?"

Ron could only splutter at first, but he managed to find the presence of mind to lift his hand to take Aunt Petunia's. Aunt Petunia sniffed a little and nodded once. "I met you before."

Ron tinged red slightly, the moment he met Aunt Petunia properly being in their second year at Hogwarts, when his dad accidentally blew out the Dursleys' fireplace. Aunt Petunia dropped Ron's hand and looked at her nephew. "Are you done yet?"

Harry nodded and shifted the books in the crook of his arm. "I'll just go pay for these..."

"I'll come with." Ron immediately offered, walking behind Harry. When he was positive he was a good distance away from Harry's aunt, Ron hissed in his ear. "What did you do with your real aunt?"

"Oh oh! Pets! I wanna see the pet store!"

Khalida whacked Anime around the head once more. The blue haired girl pouted and faced her amethyst and ebony haired friend. Mercury and Emerald sensed another argument and stood in between the duo. "Calm down you two." Emerald reasoned. "Anime, we want to show these guys that we can handle things well on our own. So we should get our wands first."

Anime rubbed her head and pouted. "Fine... Like I can argue now; I think I'm down to three or four brain cells..."

The girls walked slowly, looking around for the wand store. Mercury tugged on Khalida's arm, pointing to a store with peeling gold letters over the door. Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. A lonely looking wand on a cushion was in the store window, looking suspiciously as though it had been there for a while. "There we go. C'mon."

The quartet walked straight into the store and immediately fell silent, the tinkling bell that signalled their entry echoing through the stores depths. There was an air of powerful magic and library type atmosphere, which was surprising for its small and almost shabby appearance. Even Anime felt she had to hold her tongue in the store. The four girls wandered around, just looking at the different shelves and at the stacks of long thin boxes lining the walls. None of them noticed the figure behind the counter until he spoke.

"May I help, ladies?"

All four girls jumped and yelped (or swore in Egyptian as the case may be), turning to face the speaker. Mr Ollivander, an elderly gentleman with wide pale eyes, smiled at the girls. "I presume you wish to purchase wands?"

The girls nodded mutely. Mr Ollivander gazed at the four girls momentarily and nodded, walking from behind the counter, producing a tape measure out of his pocket. "I must say, I have never seen girls such as yourselves before, and we do get all sorts in here..."

Mr Ollivander came nose to nose with Khalida. She blinked once before frowning. "Get out of my face old man, before I do some remodelling."

Mr Ollivander simply chuckled but complied, unfurling his tape measure. Mr Ollivander looked over the girls one by one. "Who wishes to be measured first?"

No one came forward at first, too nervous to trust the old man. However, Khalida decided to be the brave one since no one was volunteering. Mr Ollivander nodded. "Hold out your wand hand please."

"My what?"

"Which hand do you use the most?"

"Oh... that'll be my right, I guess..."

Emerald and the other girls watched curiously as Mr Ollivander went about measuring Khalida from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, bemused by the mounting confusion of Khalida's expressions as the tape measured began measuring quite on its own as Mr Ollivander spoke and searched the shelves.

"Every Ollivander wand has a powerfully magical substance for its core. Unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, dragon heartstrings; any of these will be used in collaboration with a particular wood. Therefore, no two wands are the same, so results vary from wand to wand for different individuals..."

Emerald, Mercury and Anime suppressed giggles as Khalida watched the tape measure begin measuring the length of her cleavage. Mr Ollivander returned from his search, his arms laden with boxes. "That will do," he muttered, resulting with the tape measure crumpling to the floor. Placing the boxes on the counter carefully, Mr Ollivander picked one wand up from the boxes and handed it to the Egyptian girl. "Here you go. Peony and unicorn tail hair. Six and a half inches. Whippy and flexible. Here, give it a wave."

"It's quite short for a length of wood, isn't it..." Khalida muttered when she accepted the wand, glancing at her friends before shrugging and waved the wand. Mr Ollivander snatched the length of wood out of her hand instantly and shoving another into her hand. "Oak, phoenix tail feather. Twelve inches. Sturdy. Go on..."

Khalida waved the wand again. There was more of a reaction from the wood this time. Mercury ducked out of the way as a purple blast zoomed past her ear and blew up the row of shelves behind her. Emerald and Anime's eyes widened slightly and started edging towards the counter, should a blast be heading their way. Khalida grinned and looked at Mr Ollivander. "Guess this is the right one."

Mr Ollivander shook his head and snatched away the wand and handing over another, looking a little more elated each time. They thought at least half the store's supply of wands had been used. Mr Ollivander seemed to enjoy himself, regardless of the fact that every other wand seemed to add more repairs to his list. Khalida was about to jack it all in as well when yet another wand was taken from her hand. "Look, I'm running out of patience." Khalida grumbled, looking as though she wanted to blow up the pile of wands in front of her. Mr Ollivander, who had been browsing the shelves for more wands, returned with one in hand. "I believe this may work. Would you like to give it a wave?"

Khalida seriously considered shoving the wand where the sun didn't shine, but swallowed that and accepted the wand. As soon as her fingers touched the wood, warmth spread from her fingertips to the core of her body. Her hand gripped the wand tightly and she looked at Mr Ollivander. He simply nodded. "Give it a wave." Her fist tightly gripping the wand, Khalida sliced the air. Purple and black mist that seemed to shine spewed out of the wand's tip, seeming to take on a rough shape. The mist circled all around Khalida slightly, before slowly dissipating. Mr Ollivander stroked his chin for a moment, watching the Egyptian girl closely before nodding. "Interesting reaction... but then again, each wand has its own way of choosing... Dragon Heartstring, Winter Cherry. Nine inches. Strong, but not one of my more common wands..."

The girls glanced at each other and shrugged. Mr Ollivander snapped out of his reverie and smiled at the girls, picking up the almost forgotten tape measure. "Who's next?"

"See you later, Aunt Petunia."

The blonde woman nodded and walked out of the Leaky Cauldron to spend the rest of the day in London. Harry waved his aunt off. Ron raised an eyebrow, interest peaked. "So... she's a whole lot nicer? How?"

Harry smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess... Well, some of it is private, but Aunt Petunia at the very least had a change of heart. Even gave me a semi-decent birthday and everything."

"Bloody Hell..." Ron muttered. "So c'mon, what started it? Or, tell me about it later. I want to go to Fred and George's shop. Haven't had chance to see their shop properly."

As the guys squeezed through the summer throng of people, Harry spoke about how Aunt Petunia spoke him out of his depression and up to the situation now, leaving out as much as he could about Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's argument and Aunt Petunia's admittance to her mal-treatment of her sister. By the time Ron and Harry found the joke shop, Ron was staring wide-eyed and open mouthed at Harry.

"So your Aunt was just jealous? Guess that goes to shoe jealousy is a dangerous thing..."

"Ron! Harry!"

The boys looked up and grinned at George, one half of the Weasley twins. George and his twin Fred did go to Hogwarts, but left around half way through the last year, when Professor Umbridge drove them too far. Since then, they had opened a joke shop with their own inventions stocking the shelves. It had been a successful venture, but it wouldn't have gotten off the ground if it weren't for the Weasley Twins' private investor. After he won the Triwizard Tournament through default, Harry handed the prize money to Fred and George, with the promise that they will create more jokes, give Ron some decent dress robes and keep the donation a secret.

George patted his brother and his friend on the back, leading the two younger boys into the store. Inside, they found the floor crowded with kids looking to by another Weasley invention, with Fred behind the counter, serving customer after customer. The other Weasley twin glanced up and grinned at the trio before returning to help the customers.

"As you can see for yourselves, we've done quite well for ourselves." George commented. "Business has been booming and maybe we can help Mum and Dad out now."

"That's great." Harry replied, grinning. "Bet your Mum changed her mind then, seeing how well you guys did."

George winked. "Her mind changes every week, when we try out a new invention on her."

Fred called George over for help. Patting Harry and Ron on the shoulders, George waved a goodbye before leaving to help his twin. The two friends made it out of the joke shop and wandered down Diagon Alley. Harry gave Ron a lop-sided grin.

"Well, looks like you have one more thing to try and compete with in your family." Harry commented. "What's the count now? Former Head-boy come Curse breaker for Gringotts, Former Captain of the House Quidditch team come International Dragon Researcher, Former Prefect and Headboy come high-ranking Ministry Employee and now Junior Entrepreneurs of a successful joke shop?"

Ron groaned and rubbed the side of his head. "Don't remind me. Like I don't have enough to contend with..."

With a grunt, Ron suddenly went flying to the floor. Harry managed to step back in time to avoid the flying girl and the shattered glass. For a split second, Harry mused that maybe Death Eaters were fighting openly in the alley. Then his brain caught up with his eyes. Ron was sprawled on the street with a black haired girl sat on top of him, looking very dazed and not too pleased. Looking up, Harry spotted where the girl flew from and understood slightly.

Four heads peered out of the recently smashed window of Ollivander's wand store, each displaying varying degrees of shock and sheepishness. Harry paused for a moment, recognising one of the girls who looked particularly worried. The blonde hair, the blue eyes...

"Erm... Mercury?" she called.

A growl and a groan floated up to Harry's groggy ears. He looked down at his feet and bent down to help up either fallen person. The black haired girl brushed his hand away and stood, leaving the wand she was testing behind. Ron staggered up with Harry's help, picking up the wand Mercury had left behind. The two boys walked gingerly up to the wand store to return the wand to Ollivander. Inside, they gaped at the pile of wands on the counter and the significant damage visible in the shop. Moreover, they gaped at the unusual quartet of girls gathered in the store.

The tanned and obviously foreign girl with long black and purple hair, separated right down the middle, whose eyes just exuded a mysterious, predatory quality; the raven haired girl who knocked Ron over a moment ago and a blue haired, silver streak young girl with neon green eyes. The only normal looking girl in the bunch was the blonde girl with blue eyes. Harry's eyes lingered with her before looking back at Ollivander.

"Hmm... A very potent reaction indeed... I wonder why.." Ollivander muttered to himself. "Rowan, unicorn hair, ten and a half inches..."

Mercury leaned closer to Khalida, muttering quietly so the others couldn't hear. "I'll tell you why; Rowan wood repels lightning big time..."

Khalida snorted loudly, trying to hold back her laughter. Anime and Emerald looked at Khalida and Mercury questioningly, though neither cared to share what made their split coloured hair friend shake with obvious mirth. Harry handed Ollivander the rowan wand; the old man smiling at Harry and Ron. "Ah, Mr Potter. How do you do?"

"Fine, thanks..." Harry said, back to looking at the four girls in the store. He met eyes with the blonde haired girl, who obviously recognised him and blushed in embarrassment. Anime noticed and nudged Emerald in the ribs, smiling. Emerald shot the blue haired girl a look before composing herself. She stepped up to Harry and held out her hand.

"Sorry, I didn't apologise properly before." she said. "My name's Emerald, by the way."

Harry accepted her hand with a smile, noting that her grip was quite firm for someone so delicate looking. "That's alright. I'm Harry Potter. This is Ron Weasley."

To his mild surprise, Emerald didn't go through the normal rituals that most people do when he gave them his name, specifically flicking their eyes to see the scar that will confirm his identity. She simply nodded, releasing his hand. "Hello. Are you a... student?"

Harry nodded. "Hogwarts. How about you?"

The girls glanced at each other before Emerald answered. "We're transfer students, actually. We're starting at Hogwarts this year."

Ron smiled. "Cool. Where did you guys transfer from?"

"Cairo." Khalida answered straight away.

"Don't you guys use wands out there?"

"Alternative magical means." was all Mercury said in a voice that seemed to close the matter. The boys glanced at each other. Something about these girls did strike a different chord. Mr Ollivander cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the teenagers. "Speaking of wands, there're two young women who still require wands. If we may continue..."

Anime: ARGH!!! I do live, I do live, I do live!!!!

Ahearn: Pardon?

Anime: I just thought people might have missed me... Anyway, sorry for the long absence! I haven't taken an impromptu visit to my Uncle's place! Nah, just had a bit of inspirational block, that's all! E-heh