Chapter 2 - Diagon Alley
Regina was like an alarm clock for her family that morning.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The high-pitched sound rang through the house, waking everyone. "MY HOGWARTS LETTER! IT'S MY LETTER!" At the sound of these words, Annie, who was barely awake, stormed out of the room in her pyjamas to pour herself cereal.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Neville Longbottom
Dear Ms. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted
at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please
find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no
later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Luna Lovegood,
Deputy Headmistress
Soon enough, everyone was down in the kitchen eating their Mum's signature omelettes. "Well then girls, when you're all finished we can go ahead to Diagon Alley," She announced. "I've got the floo powder ready."
Regina started shoveling down her food as quickly as she could. Anything Hogwarts related, she would do.
When it was time to go, she and her family arrived in the fireplace of Ollivander's wand shop. Regina stumbled out and wiped some ash off of her face. Her mum helped her up off of the floor, and soon enough a woman, maybe Dad's age, stepped into the room.
"Hello! Welcome to Ollivander's wand shop! How may I help you?" She asked. "Oh, hello, Amy!" She addressed Regina's mum. They must have gone to Hogwarts together.
"Hi, Myrna!" Her mum replied. "How's your great-grandad doing?"
"Not so good, unfortunately. I worry he might finally be… But, my dad said he's never really been okay ever since…" She was referring to the time, many years ago, when her great-grandfather, Garrick Ollivander, was tortured by Lord Voldemort for information. "But, he's trying his best to make as many wands as possible before he…" Myrna started to tear up.
"Hey, it's going to be alright." Regina's mum hugged Myrna, and soon she started to calm down. Regina's mum had a very comforting effect.
"So…" Myrna took a deep breath in. "How can I help you?"
"My daughter, Regina, is going to start at Hogwarts, and she needs a wand."
"Oh, wonderful! My daughter, Angelle, is starting this year, too! She chose her wand yesterday!" Myrna eyes seemed to scan Regina, and after a few seconds, she finally said, "Alright. I think I've got a good idea of which wand will choose you." Myrna walked back into a row of wand boxes, and slowly slipped one off of a shelf, and opened it. "Here you go, dear. 12 inches, phoenix feather, with willow wood. Very firm." She handed it to Regina. Regina flicked the wand. A bright red flash burst in Regina's face, covering it in ash again. "Oh dear. Certainly not that one. But, I suppose phoenix feather wands can be finicky." She put the wand back where it belonged, and chose another one. "Here you go. This one is 14 inches, ash wood, unicorn hair. Very bendy." Regina waved it. The wand drooped. "Uh oh. It looks like the unicorn hair is 'dead'. I'll have to replace it. Either way, it does not seem like this is the wand for you." Myrna picked yet another wand. "Well, third time's a charm. This one should do it." She handed it to Regina. "13 and ½ inches, dragon heartstring, red oak wood. Fairly flexible." Regina waved it. As it swished through the air, it left a trail of magical sparkles. Regina suddenly felt a strange magical warmth come over her. She felt very happy and satisfied. She felt magical. "Congratulations, Ms. Regina Potter! You've found the right wand! Would you like it bagged, dear?"
Regina looked at her mum. She nodded to tell Regina that having it bagged was fine. "Yes, please."
"Great!" Myrna reboxed the wand, and handed Regina the bag. Her mum passed Myrna a few galleons, and the family walked out.
Regina looked around and noticed that Annie wasn't with them. "Mum, where's Annie?"
"She stayed home with your dad, like you always did." Her mum replied.
"Funny that she didn't remember. Gina's got a memory like an elephant." Dorothy giggled.
"Too bad. Annie would've loved this." Regina said quietly, ignoring Dorothy.
They stopped walking in front of the ice cream parlor, and they all sat down.
"Alright, I'm going to be taking Gina to buy all of her other supplies. I know that the rest of you girls have other things to buy, and you want to shop for some other fun things, too," Regina's mum started to tell everyone the plan. According to Louise, she did this every year. "So, I need Dorothy and Claire to stay together, and I need Louise and Ellie to stay together. I'm giving you each 4 galleons and quite a few sickles and knuts. Consider this your allowance for the month. And if I catch any of you alone, without your sister, I'll take your money, and only let you buy the school necessities. Understand?"
"Yes, mum." The girls said in monotone voices, having heard this many times before.
Regina and her mother walked off to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Louise and Ellie went with them too. Louise needed new robes, having grown out of her old ones. Regina had to wait for a bit because the shop was busy with more incoming Hogwarts students, but soon enough she was taken up to be fitted. Out of the corner of her eye, Regina could see Tutra, her bookworm of a second cousin. And the nerve! Tutra had a book in hand while being fitted. Regina was sure Tutra never paid any attention to the outside world. She could buy old, tattered robes and not even notice!
An old witch began pinning Regina's robes to the right size, and Regina couldn't help but notice a boy, who looked about her age, whose hair was the lightest shade of blonde she had ever seen. Regina was even sure she could see a streak of pure white in there somewhere. She began brainstorming possible causes for this interesting feature, when her mum dragged her out of the shop.
Next, they stopped by Flourish and Blotts. Regina's mum quickly sped over to the Hogwarts Reading section, and grabbed the books that Regina would need for her first year. Regina, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction. She really wanted to pick out a few more books, and read them. Maybe get ahead of the class, or something. Regina was particularly interested in a book on dragons, when she realized she was acting a lot like Tutra. Regina shoved the book back onto it's shelf, and ran to meet her mum to pay for her schoolbooks.
The Apothecary was decent, though it smelled rather horrible. Correction: it was awful and not at all decent. Again Regina found herself interested in something very nerdy, but was dragged away by her mum.
It was almost time to meet up with all of her sisters, and Regina realized there was one more place she wanted to go. "Mum?"
"Yes, Gina?"
"Can I get a cat?"
"No, of course not."
"But Louise has one."
"And that's the reason we're not getting another one." Her mum said firmly. "They shed too much."
"That's no reason to not get one! Besides, taking care of one just requires the flick of a wand!" Regina whined.
"If you want a pet, you should get an owl! You could send letters to your friends, and to us while you're at Hogwarts, using a pet of your very own. None of that school renting."
"We already have a family owl, mum."
"And Louise already has a cat. Problem solved."
"But it's Louise's cat. Not a family cat."
Regina's mum groaned. "If you get a cat, you promise to take care of it alone? If you don't know the charm to do something, you'll do it the non-magical way?"
"Of course, mum."
"Then fine. Consider this an early birthday present." The two turned around and went into the shop.
When the whole family finally left Diagon Alley, Regina carried with her a tiny black-and-white kitten. His name was Pebbles. "He's ¼ Kneazle!" Regina told Ellie. Their mum groaned.
