The man in front of me was… well, he was odd looking. Had a mean mug, too. An abnormally large nose, a thin stature, and greasy shoulder-length hair - his physical appearance was obviously not very high when it came to his personal goals.

"You must be the faculty member from Hogwarts. I must say, I was expecting someone a little different." I said.

He clicked his tongue, and stared at me with disdain. "You are exactly how I expected you to look. Jet-black hair, a tall stature for an eleven year old, and pale skin, you are exactly how a member of the Gaunt family should look, except…" he stared at me for a while before walking up to me, and forcefully picking up my chin so he could get a better look at me. "You have dark grey eyes. How odd."

I heard footsteps as someone approached, and the greasy-haired man let go of my chin.

"Erm, I don't suppose you would like some tea before you take Corvus to get his school supplies? If you wizardfolk even like tea, uh, not that I mean to insult- Wait, what's going on here?"

The two of us stared at the hallway as Ms. Sarah walked in holding a small tray with a set of teacups, along with a pot.

"Nothing at all, Ms. Sarah, although, I don't think we'll have time for tea." I said, turning my gaze to the man.

The man stared down at the tray, and then gave a single short nod. "Yes. I'm afraid we must be going."

Ms. Sarah lowered the tray, just slightly, and I could tell she was both a little saddened, and upset that she couldn't talk to the wizard about my situation. "Don't worry, Ms. Sarah. I'm sure the professor would love to have some tea after"

"Of course." The man said, with an unusually sharp emphasis of 's'. It was almost like he was spitting it out, although begrudgingly. "We need to go. The sooner we get all of your supplies, the sooner we can partake in Ms. Sarah's pot of tea. If you will follow me, Mr. Gaunt."

He turned around, and quickly began walking towards the exit as I gave Ms. Sarah a wave goodbye.

"Tell me all about your shopping when you get back, okay?" she asked, to which I nodded.

"Of course."

And then, I followed the professor out the door.

When I finally reached him, I matched his pace as we walked through the set of double doors. We made our way across the empty street, and we began walking on the sidewalk.

"I am Professor Severus Snape, but you will call me Professor Snape for as long as you are a student at Hogwarts. I suspect I will be teaching potions for the full duration of your time, there, and quite some time afterwards. Do you understand?"

"Sure, sure," I said before changing the subject. "Must all you wizards be so cryptic? Both you, and Dumbledore, your thoughts are so hard to read. It's like attempting to get a stone to divulge its secrets. It's a worthless endeavor."

"I'm sure you will learn that 'Professor' Dumbledore and I are quite different from the other witches and wizards you are sure to meet. The weak minded are present in both muggle, and wizarding societies." he said. "That won't change no matter where in the world you go."

We walked into the park where I had beat up those kids last week, and walked over to the large statue of an old World War I hero on horseback. Professor Snape walked over to the side of the rectangular base, just below where the bronze soldier's arm had risen a sword, and walked into it, disappearing.

I looked around in confusion, but the other people in the park hadn't even begun to notice that the professor had disappeared from the grounds. In fact, they seemed to just be continuing playing in the park, and flying their kites.

"Did I not tell you to follow me?"

My head turned back to the statue, where Professor Snape had poked his head out from the base. His neckline seemed to cause ripples throughout the stone as though it was a viscous liquid.

"Of course, professor. I'm right behind you." I said.

He pulled his back, and it vanished once again, and I smiled. 'My first step into the wizarding world, huh?' I thought.

I followed the man through feeling a chilling shiver as I passed through the stone, and when I opened my eyes, I wasn't in anything like the park. The grass remained, and people still ran around, but nothing was like it was before. The statue I came out of had started moving, and even talking to people that approached it. "And I told the Kaiser that he could stick that point helmet of his right up his -"

Something new had drawn my attention - the kites seemed to be almost alive. Although they were only tied to string, they flapped their wings, and twisted and turned as if they had minds of their own. I swear that I could even see a dragon kite exhale a small blast of fire when the kid holding the string tugged on it.

A wide smile grew on my face, and I quickly ran over to Professor Snape as he walked back onto the sidewalk we were just on. "Professor, is it like this everywhere? A whole world filled with people and things like the ones in this park?"

"A whole world of driveling fools pretending their problems don't exist? Yes." he responded, with spite.

"Wow, what an optimistic view of the world at large, professor." I responded as I rolled my eyes. "Not that I doubt your magical abilities, Professor Snape, but I don't think you are the right person to introduce me to this world. You're viewpoints are just so… bleak."

"Professor Dumbledore tasked me with ensuring you have everything you will possibly need to be successful at school. I am not here to hold your hand as we explore every nook and cranny of every alleyway just because you saw some colorful kites."

"So you say," I admitted, "but I don't believe you. The Headmaster of a prestigious private wizarding school visits my home to give me my letter in person? I highly doubt he has the free time to be giving out letters personally, unless he was concerned about something. This… this has something to do with my parents, doesn't it?"

Professor Snape didn't respond, but his quick pace did get slightly faster. "You think you are so clever, don't you?" he asked, to which I smiled, and nodded. "Unfortunately, you are only partly correct. You are the last in a line of an ancient and noble wizarding house known as the Gaunt Family. As the last in a line of Pure-Bloods, Professor Dumbledore wanted to escort your personally."

We entered a tall stone building with nearly a dozen fireplaces, with a short line of people waiting at each one. I took a peek from beside Professor Snape, and observed as a wizard grabbed a small handful of black powder that looked vaguely like gunpowder, and then yelled something as he threw it down into the embers of the fireplace. A blast of green flame arose from the wizard's feet, and he disappeared.

"Very cool." I muttered as we got in line.

Prof. Snape and I got farther and farther up the line until the Professor was next. The wizard vanished, and Snape grabbed onto the rim of the bowl before offering it to me. "Take a handful, Gaunt, and listen closely." As I did what he asked, he explained "This is Floo powder. When one throws it onto the ground while in a fireplace connected to the Floo network, you can access any other publicly accessible Floo connected fireplace. Merely utter the name of your destination as you throw the powder down, and the network will do the rest. Our destination is Diagon Alley, so watch closely, and listen."

I nodded as he put the bowl back, and then grabbed his own handful before walking into the fireplace. He looked me in the eyes, and then loudly announced "Diagon Alley," disappearing into a blast of green flame just as the wizard before him had.

Another smile grew on my face as I began to theorize what would happen if you instead uttered something like 'Diagonally,' but only an idiot would do that, right? I walked into the Floo fireplace, and threw down the powder. "Diagon Alley!", and then I was engulfed in a green blaze.

I coughed just once as I walked outside of the new fireplace. I began to pat the smudges of charcoal and ash off of my face. "An efficient method of travel, for sure, but it really does ruin one's clothes, doesn't it?"

"Hmm. Indeed." He muttered under his breath. He pointed a stick at me, and my clothes and face were suddenly clean again. "Now come along. We should get your wand first."

"Is that what wizards and witches use? A wand? What about a staff, like Merlin? Do we have to use wands? I'm sure I've used magic accidentally without a wand, before."

He grunted in disdain, but answered as we made our way outside nonetheless. "It is customary for most wizards and witches to use wands as conduits to channel their power, but it is not required. Some wizards will choose to instead use a staff, but is uncommon, and finally, wandless magic does exist, but in most cases, it takes a highly skilled witch or wizard. Accidental magic only occurs in high stress situations, and most commonly with an inexperienced child." He looked at me in spite, and asked "Does that answer all of your questions, Mr. Gaunt?", with extra venom on 't' in 'Gaunt'.

I smiled as I said. "One more. Where will I be getting my wand?"

"Ollivanders. Nearly every child that has ever gone to Hogwarts has received their wand from there."

"I see."

We suddenly stopped at a black-painted building with a sign that said in gold lettering 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.', and Professor Snape held the door open. "I will remain here while you get your wand. Try not to take too long, Gaunt."

"Of course, Professor." I said, smirking.

The building itself was surprisingly small, with what little space available being taken by shelves upon shelves of narrow boxes piled onto each other.

"Wow," I muttered. "Pretty big place. No wonder every kid from Hogwarts gets their wand here."

An old man with a strangely wild look on his face appeared from behind a shelf, and a wide smile grew on his face as he said "Good afternoon," His eyes were like… large orbs that vaguely reminded me of a bowl filled with milk.

"Hello," I said, stretching out my hand to the old man. "I'm Corvus. Corvus Gaunt."

"Yes," he said, taking my hand. "It seems only yesterday your father was in here himself, buying his first wand. Thirteen and a half inches long, solid, comprised of Yew. " The old man seemingly turned to a specific spot on one of his shelves, and his smile fell. "His wand had a phoenix feather core, as well. Most odd, given that the Phoenix who gave the feather actually gave out another one. It's brother is over there."

My eyes squinted just slightly at the man, but his mind was almost entirely filled with 'wandlore' as he would call it. It could take weeks, possibly even a few months to find out anything on my father by peering into this man's mind, but I did learn his name: Garrick Ollivander.

"As upsetting as it is, I don't quite know who your mother is. Still, I'm sure she must have had an exceptionally interesting personality if she attracted your father."

Mr. Ollivander turned to me, and got extremely close as he stared into my eyes for quite some time before backing off. "Now then, let's see… What would you say your wand arm is, Mr. Gaunt?"

"I'm right handed, Mr. Ollivander."

"Hold out your arm. Yes, very good." Mr. Ollivander said. He puled out a tape measure, and measured everything from my shoulder-to-finger length, to my knee-to-armpit, to even my head. "Every Ollivander wand has either three cores of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, as I previously stated, and dragon heartstrings. Just as no two Ollivander wands are the same, no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. Your wand is your own, Mr. Gaunt, and you won't ever get as good results with a wand owned by another wizard."

Mr. Ollivander quickly moved into the hallway behind him, and began picking out boxes. "This one… no, this one would be a better fit. How about this one?" He droned on as he grabbed more and more until he had a small pile of them. He finally stopped in front of me, just as the tape measure, which I had learned was just measuring my posterior, flew up, and inserted itself into Mr. Ollivander's pocket as he lifted the lid off of a wand box.

"This will do nicely, I think. Try this one out first, Mr. Gaunt. Ebony and phoenix feather. 12 inches, reasonable flexible. Give it a wave."

My hand gripped the thick(er) end of the twisted, black wand, but just as I was about to wave it, Mr. Ollivander snatched it, and placed it back in its box."

"Holly, and Unicorn Hair. Nine inches, very supple."

Once again, I grabbed it, and was about to wave it around, just as Mr. Ollivander had told me to, but he quickly retrieved it putting it back in its box.

"No, No," he said. "None of these are quite how they should be. Well, try this one." Mr. Ollivander gave me seventeen wands. I should know, I counted them, and seventeen times, the wand maker snatched them up and put them back, but then he had a glint in his eyes, and disappeared into a room in the back.

"Mr. Gaunt, I should warn you," he said, shouting loud enough for me to hear, even from another room, the wand that I am about to give you was not made by me. In fact, the person who made this wand has long since passed away. The wand is quite… unusual, which is why I've never let anyone but my trickiest customers hold the wand, but I think for you, it might be the perfect fit."

Mr. Ollivander reappeared holding a wand box that looked even dustier than the boxes he's shown me before. He set it down in front of me, and opened the lid slowly, as if he was fearful of the effects, but in awe, as if he might finally find an owner for it. "This wand… Thirteen and three fourth's inches. Slightly yielding, but with a Horned Serpent Horn core native to North America." He picked up the wand by each end of the stick, and gently offered it to me. "The reason why this wand is so unusual, so powerful, is that it is made with Elder wood. Now, Elder wood is the rarest wand wood in the world, and is known to be deeply unlucky, and few could ever hope to master it."

I reached my hand out as if to grab it, but he reeled the wand back to continue his warning.

"There is a saying - 'wand of elder, never prosper', which many, including myself, believe to be true. However, those who truly master the wand are marked by destiny. Mr. Gaunt, do you believe yourself capable of mastering this wand?"

My gaze met Mr. Ollivanders as I contemplated the potential dangers of accepting this wand, but in the end, I nodded, and carefully grabbed the wand. The wand itself was nearly jet-black, on par with the ebony wand I had held before, but this seemed much more powerful as I held it in my hand. I felt my hand warm up as I brought it closer to my chest, and breathed deeply. A stream of silver appeared around my hand, and spun around the wand all the way to the tip, where it had, almost naturally, dissipated into thin air.

"How exceptionally curious," Mr. Ollivander said in wonder. His pale eyes seemed to have widened even more as he pondered about the newfound bond between me and the wand. "For decades, both me, and my father have tried to find the master of that wand, but in the end, it choose you. You are destined for great things, Mr. Gaunt. Whether they be terrible or not is up to you. I shall be watching your career very, very, closely, Mr. Gaunt. Now then, that will be seven galleons."

I watched in silent amazement as Mr. Ollivander's demeanor changed so quickly. One minute, he was warning me about the danger that comes with this wand, and then the next, he wants money. I let out a silent gasp, and then pulled out the seven of the gold coins Professor Snape had given me out of my pocket.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Ollivander. I'll try to not die earlier than my destiny will allow."

"See that you do, Mr. Gaunt!"

I left the shop, and let out a huff of air as a giant of a man approached with an exceptionally thin boy with a black mop of hair.

"Professor Snape!" The giant called out. "I was just taking Harry 'ere to Ollivanders."

I could almost see Professor Snape give out a frustrated huff of air from his nose as he approached the giant. Through gritted teeth, Professor Snape said "Is that so, Hagrid? We were just leaving."

The Professor roughly grabbed onto my collar, but was stopped when the giant patted the thin boy on his back, causing his glasses to nearly fall off of his head.

"Harry, this man is Professor Snape. He's the head of Slytherin House, and will be yer potions teacher." the giant said. "And I'm guessing this will be yer classmate. Seems Professor Snape's showin' him around."

"Hello." the boy said to me.

I switched my gaze to the professor who had since let go of my collar, and smirked as I approached the thin boy whilst holding my hand out. "Hello, Harry. My name's Corvus. Corvus Gaunt."

The boy flashed a smile, and then grabbed onto my hand. "Harry Potter. Are you new as well?"

"You mean to the wizarding world? Yes. Professor Snape's been taking me to get my school supplies, much like your giant friend here."

The giant had begun to talk to Professor Snape, but only Professor Snape's eyes were shown to me, so despite my efforts, I couldn't listen in on their conversation.

"Oh, Hagrid. Yes, he's showing me around. Is that your wand?" He switched his gaze over to me, and I lifted the wand from my side, and showed it to Harry.

"Wow. Are all wands like this?"

I rolled my eyes as I recalled my experience with Mr. Ollivander. "Elder Wood, Horned Serpent Horn Core, thirteen and three-fourth's inches. Each one is apparently different, which I'm sure Mr. Ollivander will relay to you as soon as he meets you. He's a little… outlandish, to be modest."

"Come, Corvus. It's time for us to go to Gringott's. We have to get the funds to buy the rest of your school supplies." Professor Snape said. He was obviously done with Hagrid, the giant, and looking at his face, he didn't enjoy the conversation with him in the slightest. Hagrid, on the other hand, had a smile that was almost wider than his face.

I turned back to Harry, and gave him one last smile. "I'll see you at Hogwarts."

"Yeah. See you soon, Corvus."

We passed by nearly a dozen shops as we walked. 'Broomstix', 'Eeylops Owl Emporium', 'Flourish and Blotts'. I guess there's a reason why all of the students at Hogwarts come here for their school supplies. Everything you could ever need is located on one street. In front of us lied our destination, however. It was a giant brick building that was curiously tilted, with two balcony's build on top of each other just above the main entrance. Above the door 'GRINGOTTS BANK' was carved into the material, possibly marble.

"Mr. Gaunt, I shall tell you this right now - treat the goblins with respect. They are resentful of wizards due to centuries of petty battles. If you wish to do something to anger them, just remember that your money is being kept in their vaults."

"Alright, Professor. I'll keep that in mind."

He didn't say another word as we passed through the doors. My eyes wandered all throughout the opening. There were half a dozen tables neatly placed around the room, with numerous goblins working at each table. The goblins themselves were quite ugly, even with my already low expectations. I had expected a pale green skin, with yellowed teeth, and wild eyes, but each of these goblins looked like miniature, albeit dangerous, humans. That being said, you could easily tell the differences between a human and a goblin. The goblins had exceptionally long noses that strangely went together nicely with their short stature. Even from where I'm standing, though, I can tell their teeth are extremely sharp. Where most of our teeth are flat, the goblins' were sharp enough to where their mouth looked like it was comprised of two rows of minuscule daggers.

We finally reached the goblin on the end, who was writing something on a sheet of parchment before we reached him. He finally set his quill down, and peered down at us from his tall desk.

"We've come to retrieve the money from Corvus Gaunt's Vault." Professor Snape said, and I could've sworn I heard the goblin snicker.

The goblin looked down at me, but asked the Professor "Do you have his key, sir?"

"Of course. Right here."

Professor Snape pulled out a golden, but intricate carved, key and presented it as if he had always had it in his hand.

The goblin picked up the key, and began to observe the carvings before saying "Everything looks to be in order. I shall send for someone to take you down to Mr. Gaunt's vault. Griphook!"

"Again?" another goblin said, dropping a short stack of papers. He opened up a door beside him, and gestured at it. "Come along now, Mr. Gaunt."

I don't know what I was expecting, but a mine cart ride wasn't it. It seemed like every second, we made another turn. Left, Left, Right, left, middle, right, right. If I were anyone else, I think I would have lost count of the turns, and which way we turned, but I amazingly kept up the pace. In fact, by the end of it, I wasn't even dizzy. I just recalled that we had made forty-seven left turns, thirty-nine right turns, and eleven times, we just went straight at a fork in the road.

We finally stopped, and we all got out of the mine art, and approached a large, but intricate door. Above the door, there was a large carving with the numbers '669'.

"Six-Six-Nine. Is that number an indication of the vault?"

"Yes, Mr. Gaunt." the goblin stated.

I let out a short 'hmm,' as I pocketed this information, and then watched the goblin. Griphook seemed to just swish his index finger vertically, and inserted a key before turning it. The next thing I knew, the door began to open, and my mouth nearly dropped. A large seemingly endless mountain of gold had risen up from a deep pocket in the ground, and spread to each of the corners in the room. Numerous trinkets, and rare gems had been placed all around the gold, including ruby's, diamonds, and sapphire's to name a few, but the thing I was most interested in was a wooden table at the front of the room. There was a note folded just enough so that it could easily propped up if someone wanted to. On the paper, someone had neatly written 'To Corvus Gaunt'

Without another word, I approached the table all by my lonesome, and picked up the note, eagerly reading the contents.

"Hello, Corvus

If you're reading this, then something bad must have happened to Mummy or Daddy. If that is the case, then Mummy is sorry she can't be there for you. I've made sure that you have enough money to live your entire life without lifting a finger if you so wish, but if you're anything like Mummy or Daddy, you won't, so let this tide you over while you are in school.

Forever yours,

Mummy."

I gently closed the letter, and put it in my pocket carefully enough to where I wouldn't damage the piece of parchment by mishandling it, or accidentally crushing it, and then looked at Professor Snape.

"Take what you wish, Mr. Gaunt. It is all yours, I assure you." He materialized a bag from his pocket, and offered it to me, and I gladly accepted it before shoving entire handfuls of galleons in there. By the time I was done, the bag was almost completely full, and unsurprisingly, it looked like I hadn't even touched the gold due to the sheer amount of galleons in the pile. It looked as though I had never even been there in the first place.

"I'm ready to go, Professor Snape. Take us to the surface, Griphook."

The goblin nodded, and we got back in the mine cart that took us to the surface. The sunlight was a refreshing change to the torches in the nethers of the Gringotts bank. I looked at Professor Snape, but as always, he just had a grumpy look on his face.

"You have a choice, Mr. Gaunt. Shall we get your pet, your alchemical supplies, your books, or your robes?" he asked.

I thought about it for some time before I told him "I already have a snake. Do I really need another pet for school?"

He grunted as we began walking down the street. "Snakes are not normally allowed as pets, but I believe the Headmaster will make an exception for you. I suggest you at least get an owl, unless you wish to bother your peers every time you need to send a letter."

"Good point. Let's get an owl."

We walked into the owl store I saw earlier, Eeylops Owl Emporium, and I began looking at their selection. Eagle Owl, Great Grey Owl, there were nearly a dozen selections before I finally saw one that caught my eye. It was large, larger than almost all of the other owls in the emporium, and everything except for streaks on each of its wings, and the area around its eyes were an immaculate white. The owl's gaze met my own, and the owl shuffled its feathers, and almost gave me a short bow as I watched it. I looked down at the plaque, and read 'Snowy Owl - 15 Galleons', and smiled.

"Excuse me, shop keep!" I shouted, to which one of the employees quickly walked over to me. "I'd like this owl. The one with the strange markings around its eyes."

"Alright." He said, in a deep voice. He put on some falconry gloves, and then opened up the cage. The owl proudly stepped onto the glove only long enough for the man to pull him out of his cage before he flew over to me, and landed on my upper arm. "Seems like he's already taken a liking to you."

"I hope so. I chose him because he seems unique, like me."

"Okay," the shopkeep said. "I tell you what, I can include a large owl cage, along with two dozen Eeylops treats for only ten more galleons. That's quite the deal, if you ask me."

"You've got a deal," I said, shaking the man's hand with my free one. I was quickly brought over to the counter, where another worker brought me a cage, and I set my new owl in it, before gently shutting the lock.

I pulled out my large sack of galleons, and put it on the table, and the shop keep took an audible gulp. "Guess I should've asked for more, huh?"

I chuckled as I stated "I probably would've paid it, too. An owl like this, I can't help but feel seventeen galleons is a bargain."

"Eeylops only deals with the best. Now, I should tell you, any time you need more treats, or food, just send your owl with a shopping list, and the money needed, and I'll make sure your owl goes back with it"

"Thanks," I said, putting twenty-seven galleons down on the counter. I picked up the cage, albeit with some difficulty, and brought it outside where Professor Snape was waiting with a large cart.

"I do believe I said 'try not to take too long', Mr. Gaunt".

"So you did," I responded, putting the cage on the cart. "Where to next?"

He let out a sigh as he said "Madam Malkinson's. We should get your robes."

As I ended up on the front porch of my home, the orphanage, I took a deep breath, and walked in with my large cart. The sun had started to go down, and the air became a little more crisp as the nighttime cold drifted in. I saw that Ms. Sarah had passed out on the couch in the main hall, and I smiled. I quickly took my cart to my room, shut the door, and then woke Ms. Sarah up.

"I hope you're ready for everything I'm about to tell you, Ms. Sarah. I had the most amazing day. It all started with-"

I ended up talking about Diagon Alley for hours with Ms. Sarah. I even ended up promising her that I'd take her next time if I was allowed to. 'One more month.' I thought, looking at my wand. 'And then, I'll finally be in Hogwarts. I can't wait.' I yawned silently, and then put my wand on my nightstand as I turned to Nagi, who was curling up on my chest, and Bruma, my new owl. "Goodnight, Nagi. Goodnight, Bruma. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I've got to make sure I've read every one of my school books before school starts."

Nagi didn't reply, as she was already asleep, but Bruma gave a short *Hoot*. I smiled, and then pulled the switch for my lamp, putting out the light, and letting me drift off into dreams of magic and wonder.