Flourish and Blotts was very large. Books were everywhere and seeing them Marie squealed and ran off "We're supposed to stick together!" Callie cried then groaned. "Ah well. We might as well split up. I'll search for the first 3 books you can search for the rest." With that Callie delved into the books. She found them quickly enough but also found some other interesting books including 'Hogwarts, A History' and 'Magical creatures of the lands'. Deciding to purchase them she accidentally knocked into a red headed woman and sent everything flying. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to that!" Picking up the last of the papers she handed them back to the woman. "That's alright dear. My name's Molly Weasly, nice to meet you. You're not from around here are you?" Callie looked surprised then remembered that her accent was obvious. Blushing she mumbled "My friends and I are exchange students from America. My name's Callie Sum-Star." Looking puzzled Mrs. Weasly said "Sum-Star?" Callie shook her head and grinned.

"Just Star." Nodding Mrs. Weasly suddenly thought.

"How old are you dear?"

"I was 16 this July."

"You must be in the 6th year then. My youngest son, Ron's in that year."

Curious Callie asked "What house is he in?"

"Gryffindor. I'm collecting his, my daughter, Ron's friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter's books." Dimly Callie tried to remember who Harry Potter was. Snapping her fingers she said "You mean the 'Boy who lived'?" Smiling warmly Mrs. Weasly nodded. "Well I must get along now dear. Hope you and your friends are in Gryffindor!" Waving to Mrs. Weasly she went over to the counter and purchased her books. Looking around she noticed that all her friends were gathered by a table talking. "Hey!" She said. "I just met Ron Weasly's mum!"
"Who's Ron Weasly?" Asked Tom puzzled.

"Harry Potter's best friend!" Everyone said at once.

Quickly leaving, they then checked their list. "How about we get the animals first?" Marie suggested. "Then we could buy them but leave them at the shop until we collect them." They all agreed and set of for Owls Emporium. It was stuffy and creatures were everywhere. Agreeing to meet up outside they went in search for good purchases. Natasha found a cute little dog that was white and brown. Marie found a small white mouse that she immediately called Snowy. Josh wanted the golden phoenix but seeing it was too much purchased a black owl with amber eyes. Tom found a black rat that he promptly said reminded him of Jack – a friend of theirs in Greece. Callie searched but couldn't find anything. Finally at the back of the shop something caught her eye – a grey kitten with blue eyes and a snow white owl with green eyes. "You sure you want them Miss? They'll give you trouble mark my words." said the storekeeper. Ignoring him Callie bought them and called them Smokey and Elina – a Greek name that means pure and intelligent.

"Next is the apothecary." Joshua pronounced slowly. "Apothecary. Funny word. I like it." After entering he said "Actually I don't. This smell is atrocious!" Giggling they all started teasing him. "You sound like Giles!" Loftily Joshua replied

"I am glad to be compared to someone of his stature." Seeing blank looks, Callie explained it to them. "It means importance." A low cry of 'Oh' echoed around the group. It was indeed though, an atrocious smell. Somewhere between bad eggs and rotted cabbages. There were barrels of slimy stuff everywhere and many ingredients hung on the walls. Quickly buying the equipment a sigh of relief was heard as they stepped out into the fresh air. They then went on to buy:

1 cauldron (silver, size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 moving model of the galaxy

1 set brass scales

1 set spycraft gadgets

"What else do we need?" asked Tom squinting against the bright sunshine. Glancing down at the long list, Callie mentally ticked off all the things they had. "We need a broomstick and a wand. Oh! I need to get my hair cut and we can but anything else that we want. We're meeting Hagrid at 5.00 and its only 3.00 so we can do anything we want after that." She said breathlessly. Grinning Natasha said,

"You sure you're not tired after that speech?"

"Ha Ha, so very funny I think I'm think I forgot to breathe. Not."

"Can we go to the broom stores? I want to ask how they work." Joshua said calmly.

They headed off to Quality Quidditch Supplies chatting about how the brooms worked. There was a notice in the window. 'All brooms ½ price, while stocks last!'

"I wonder what made that happen." Seeing blank stares again Callie said "I mean I wonder why everything is half-price as supposedly this store does really well." Shrugging is off Tom ventured inside and whistled. "This place is brill!" Upon entering they saw what he meant. The place had brooms everywhere. Every size, shape, colour, length imaginable of a broom stick. Some even had wings on them! Marie decided against buying one as did Joshua saying he 'preferred to keep my feet on the ground, thank you very much.' Natasha bought a Nimbus 2006 for skill while Tom bought a Firebolt for speed. Looking around Callie couldn't find anything she really liked quickly passing over the Cleansweeps, Firebolts and Nimbus' they landed on one hidden in the corner. Walking over she saw a broomstick inside a class case. It was on red velvet and there was a place card next to it.

"Star – made by the four founders of Hogwarts. One of a kind due to the fact that making it took a lot of power out of them and they wanted to be ready for Janna's attack."

"Wow. Excuse me can I but this broomstick please?" The shopkeeper hurried over. "I'm afraid it won't work. You see it only works with certain people." Mopping his brow the shopkeeper said "You can try it though if you wish." Unlocking the glass case he handed it to Callie. "Place it on the floor and say up. If it works its yours for free." Callie placed it on the floor and looked at it. She felt a sense of happiness and fire as she looked at it and it filled her with such energy. She had to have that broom. "Up." The broom shot into her hand. The shopkeeper yelped and tripped over a bow behind him. "My oh my. Please my dear you must keep it. It's yours for free." And with that he hurriedly pushed them out the door, "Goodbye." He said shutting the door in their faces.

"Rude much." Natasha said huffily. "There was no need for that. He looked really freaked out and that is such a cool broomstick!" Callie looked at it. It was kiendrae'd willow wood so pure white and the twigs at the bottom had green and gold leves on. The twigs were also soft not harsh but quite stiff. It was indeed a lovely broom. "He freaked out when I used it. HE told me that'no one could use it except the founders of Hogwarts."
"Wierd. I wonder why it worked for you."

With that they headed off to 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands dince 382 BC'. The words were written in peeling gold paint and the shop was narrow and shabby. A single wand lay on a faded cushion in the dusty window. A tinkling bell rang when they entered and the hair on the back ofCallie'sneck stood on end. It was tiny and empty apart from one spindly shair which no one dared to sit on as it looked like it would break. There were thousandes of narrow boxes piled right up to the ceiling; very neatly done. "Good Afternoon" said a voice behind them. Turning round they saw an old man standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons though the gloom of the shop. "My name is My name is Mr Ollivander. You must be the Slayers child and friends. How do you do?" Smiling nervously they replied slowly and cautiously.

"Fine."

"Good."

"I'm well."

"Nice place."

"Hi?"

Amused Mr Ollivander said you are unusual people so I fear you will have unsual wands. "I shall try you all at the same time. Now which hand do you favour? " All were right handed so they all stuck out their right hands. 5 tape measures appeared and started measuring them. "What's in a wand Mr Ollivander?" Asked Joshua.

"Every Ollivancer wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Cuthbert. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorn hairs,dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course you will never get such good results with another wizards wand. But there are other types of cores. I had eight this morning though 3 of gone already. Quite suprising I suppose." Realising he was finished they became aware that the tape measure was measuring their eye width. "Stop." Came Ollivander's mystical voice.The tape measures fell to the floor. Looking up at them he smiled. "Now, shall we start?"