"We're here!" I yelled from the doorway of the kitchen. The Weasley family looked like it had just been hit by a tornado (though that word has been banned from the Weasley household ever since the Tornadoes beat the Cannons at the All-Europe Cup in 1999). Mrs. Weasley seemed to have been hit by a Silencing Spell mid-sentence. Mr. Weasley had obviously been on the receiving end of one of Aunt Lavender's lectures. Jeffrey was cracking up with Kayla. Taylor was reading while drinking a glass of orange juice. I smiled. This was the Weasley family at its best.
"Um, hi!" I said as I walked into the kitchen. By then, Anna and Elise had both arrived. They were brushing off the soot from their clothes and hair.
"Hey Emmy," said Jeff as he took a large drink from his juice.
"Hi Jeff. Hey Kay, hey TJ. Morning Aunt Lav. Hi Uncle Ron!" I said nodding to each in turn. My sisters and I hugged everyone. Nina had just arrived and told us that Mom would be right over.
"Hey girls. Come here and sit down. Would you care for some toast or something?" my "aunt" asked me as she ushered me to a chair. I shook my head and thanked her.
"I've already eaten, thanks," I said as my sisters followed suit. I grabbed a chair and sat between Jeff and Taylor.
"Whatcha reading Teej?" I asked, trying to make conversation while Jeff was too busy with his juice to talk. Taylor glared at me. Taylor was always changing, so you could never really know if you had offended her.
"Emily, it's Taylor Jane! And if you MUST know, I'm reading this," she exclaimed as she showed me the cover of her book. Famous Witches in Perilous Situations.
"Sorry, Taylor Jane. It looks like a pretty good book. So, Jeff, didcha get your letter? Doesn't Hogwarts sound just fabulous?" I said turning to my best friend.
"Yeah, I got it yesterday. It sounds better than our old school, but it's still full of classes and there's homework..." he said, making a face. BOOM! A crash shook the house.
"Sorry I'm late everyone!" my mum said as she hugged Aunt Lavender, her best friend. "By the way, Ron, Harry can't come. He's caught up at work. They're still tracking down that Riddle girl..." she trailed off and glanced our way. She smiled and stopped talking.
"Actually, I don't think I'll be going either. I've also got to head off to the office. While you ladies take the kids shopping, some of us have to work," he said jokingly. Uncle Ron was the manager of the Chudley Cannons, the Weasley/Potter's favorite team (of course). They had actually been doing loads better since he started working with them. They had made it to the All-Europe Cup Finals and made it tenth at the World Cup. Uncle Ron worked loads, but he loved it.
"Alright. Well, we better get going then, or we won't have any time!" Aunt Lav said, checking her watch.
We all stood and walked over to the large fireplace ornating the Weasley living room. Aunt Lav went first with Kayla (who was still too young to be flooing alone), then Anna, Elise, and Nina. Taylor Jane went with mum. Jeff turned to me and said, "Ladies first, Emmy." Jeff hated flooing. I gave him my best smirk and walked into the flames. "DIAGON ALLEY!"
I was greeted by a ray of blinding sunlight seeping through the open window of the Leaky Cauldron. I shielded my eyes and walked outside, waving to Tom, the now very aged owner of the pub. Everyone was waiting for me outside of Flourish and Blotts. Only mum was missing and Elise informed me that she was having a cup of coffee with her good friend Lynn Spencer. Madison and Lindsay, the two youngest Spencer girls, would stay with us while we shopped. Madison and I were the same age and we had grown to be friends. Not best friends, like Jeff and I were, but on decent terms. As for Lindsay, she was a year younger than me, and was a class A brat in my humble opinion. I was very glad Taylor was there to keep her occupied and far away from me. If anyone could take Lindsay, it was Taylor.
The day went by without a hitch. We spent the morning buying our books, quills, and potion supplies. It was obvious to see that school was around the corner; the streets, not to mention the stores, were jam-packed. We had a quick lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and a Fortescue ice cream for dessert.
After we had all exited the ice-cream parlor, we separated into three groups. Anna, Elise, Rachel, and Allison would take the three littler girls (Kayla, Taylor, and Lindsay) for some dress robe shopping (for my sisters of course. They were always off at parties and balls.) while Maddie, Jeff, and I went to get our wands. Our mums had decided to go off to Kilia's, the biggest store on Diagon Alley. Our little trio walked over to Ollivander's and had to wait in line behind two blond-haired kids and a brown haired one who looked about our age. When they left, we entered and voted Maddie to go first. She approached the wizened old man behind the counter who promptly exclaimed,
"Ms. Spencer, welcome. Eleven years old already. Why, I remember you being in here as just a baby when your older sister was buying her wand. Palm, centaur hair, nine inches. Your mother, however, I don't remember..."
"My mother bought her wand in Salem, Oregon. She's American, you see," Madison explained.
"I see...Well, let's not dwell in the past. How about you Miss Spencer? Let's try this one," Mr. Ollivander said, holding out a wand to her. It was snatched out of her hands immediately and replaced with another and another until about ten wands had been tried.
"This one, Miss Spencer. Now, wave it..." She did. Mauve sparks flew out and singed Mr. Ollivander's remaining hair. I do believe that I broke three of my ribs trying to keep from laughing. The shop owner huffed and hurriedly put it out.
"Well, I do believe this is yours, Miss. Ebony, Chimaera tooth, 11 ½ inches. Very fine wand, yes indeed."
I went next and only tried out two before finding the right one: Redwood, Diricawl Feather, 14 ½ in.
As for Jeff, he took longer than Maddie and I put together. He tried out about twenty, and I do believe that even Mr. Ollivander was starting to get discouraged. By the end, though, he found a 9 ¼ inch wand made of Hickory and Niffler hair. We thanked Mr.Ollivander and left the shop.
We made our way back to the other two groups, said our goodbyes, and all three families went their separate ways, promising to owl each other before the beginning of school.