Howdy! It's back! Sorry for the long wait again, with school and stuff its hard to find the time to edit, write, etc. No I don't own anything except for Laura, Alanna, Michael, and Lucy. Thanks to Conventia and light goddess1493 for the reviews. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 3: Shopping!
It was early, too early in the morning. Laura, who was never a morning person, stood sullenly in a clearing in the woods at the local city park. The sun had just risen, lighting the sky up with pale yellows, oranges, and reds. Michael stood there in a rare moment of silent companionship with Laura, as they both glared at Lucy and Alanna. They were both chatting away much too happily and much too loudly. There was even occasional cackle-like laughter from Alanna as Lucy re-accounted her morning of mishaps. Laura looked out of the corner of her eye at Michael,
"So do you want to shoot them, or should I?"
"I would normally give you the pleasure, but we're going to need Lucy's notes, and Alanna has her good moments," replied Michael.
Laura heaved a sigh, "Sadly, your right. It would be a waste of my dangerously low energy right now." Michael just nodded.
On the other side of the clearing, Lucy and Alanna were talking about Dumbledore's late night arrival at the Youngblood's.
"I can't believe that you didn't call me right then!" cried Lucy.
"I wanted to surprise you. How cool was it when you saw me walking up?"
"Actually, I thought that you were seeing us off, and then I saw that you were smiling for once. I always know what that means."
Alanna laughed, "You just wish you had this dazzling smile."
"Who would want those buck teeth?" Lucy shot back.
Alanna gave an indignant cry and proceeded to poke Lucy mercilessly in the side with her fingers.
"I take it back! I take it back!" Lucy's cries were muffled by her attempt to get away from the attack, but Alanna relented anyway, allowing Lucy to catch her breath. After a few short gasps, Lucy asked, "So do you know who is picking us up?"
"No," Alanna glanced over to where her mother was standing, "but mom wasn't too keen on the name when Dumbledore told her."
"What was it?"
Alanna scrunched up her face as she tried to remember, "It sounded kind of like 'snap'…I think."
"Hmm." Lucy was at a loss as she followed Alanna's gaze towards the children's parents.
The new witches and wizard's families stood off together talking lightly, as if afraid to much noise would cause problems. Alanna's mom and dad stood talking with Laura's "parents". The conversation looked to be forced, as they two pairs were nothing alike. 'It looks like all of them look like having their teeth pulled would have been better.' Alanna thought amused. The Youngblood's seemed more relaxed in their blue jeans and shirts, while the Turner's seemed to be overcompensating by wearing their suits and had their briefcases sitting directly beside them. The conversation between Lucy and Michael's parents was more relaxed as they had been neighbors for the past several years. Lucy glanced at her brother's and had to grin. Both were wearing twin expressions of fatigue and boredom and sat in the grass, grumpily glaring at their parents as if demanding when they were going to leave.
Precisely at the appointed time, a slight 'popping' noise sounded in the air, announcing the arrival of a tall, pale man with shoulder length, greasy hair, a hooked nose, and wearing long black robes. He had a very unpleasant sneer on his face, making it plainly obvious that he did not wish for the job of escorting the four teenagers to get their school supplies.
The girls and Michael split from their conversations, or brooding in Laura's case, and walked over to their respective families who had also stopped their conversations to take in this man's quite sudden appearance
"Misses DeWitt, Youngblood, Weasley, and Mr. Bradley I presume." said the man as he closed the distance between himself and the group. The children nodded their responses.
"I'm Professor Snape, the potions master and the Slytherin head of house at Hogwarts. Though it would seem that some you are already aware of this fact." The man said with not very kind look at Alanna's mother.
"Well hello Severus," greeted Alanna's mom with a big smile of her own, "I'm glad to see that you have spent the last few decades in gainful employment"
Alanna looked curiously at each of her friends in turn, what did her mother mean by that?
"Well, at least I wasn't afraid to work in the open." Replied Severus, snidely. "Now where are your trunks?"
The four friends silently pointed over to four trunks that were stacked one on top of the other.
Snape pulled his wand from a pocket within his robes, pointed it at the trunks, and said "Subvectionis Hogwarts." The trunks vanished from sight.
"Whoa! Where did they go?" asked Laura, her eyes wide, reflecting the thoughts of the other three youth.
"I have transported your trunks to Hogwarts where they will be put into your rooms and we don't have to drag them around with us."
Snape removed a box from his pocket and opened it. Inside was a clear green stone. "Now everyone touch to the stone and we can get started."
"Why, what does the stone do?" asked Laura.
Snape sent a glare at Laura, "Touch the stone, all of you!"
Everyone jumped to do as they were bid as Snape added one of his fingers to the stone. As soon as Snape touched the stone, everyone felt a sharp tug behind their navels as if a fishing hook had a hold of them, and they were pulled along by what they would later find out was a port-key.
When they appeared at their destination, no one except Snape was able to keep their feet and remain standing when they landed, which was demonstrated as the four teenagers landed in a small heap all around him.
"Oh, ow." Muttered Alanna as Michael rolled off of her.
"Man, I'm so sorry," he said as he gave her a hand up.
Laura looked up with a scowl that matched Snape's and debated on whether or not she should push him over and help him into the pile. Just as she came to the decision that it was worth it, Lucy stopped her hand.
"You probably don't want to do that. He's going to be one of the teachers for our quick learning during this summer, not to mention our teacher during the year. Getting on his bad side would probably be the worst idea possible," whispered Lucy fiercely as she pulled Laura to her feet with a friendly hand.
"Bad side," whispered Laura back, "this guy doesn't even look like he has a good side."
Lucy let out a poorly concealed laugh behind her hand, which caught Alanna's attention who sent them a curious stare.
"Follow me." Said Snape as he began to leave the room where they landed and out into what appeared to be a bar.
The four curiously looked around the room. The bar had an old toothless barkeep at the far end talking with some customers. They were all dressed much in the same way as Snape, complete with robes and wands within their reach. Several of the tables were filled with other customers who were discussing or gossiping about different things, which ever happened to be the case. Several of the customers were staring back at the teenagers just as curiously. Lucy took note of the clock hanging on the wall above the bar. It read twelve o'clock, which totaled a six-hour time difference from the time at home.
'I wonder,' thought Lucy, 'will we still get jet lag even though we didn't fly here?'
"What is this placed called?" asked Laura to Snape who was leading them out toward the back of the building.
"The Leaky Cauldron." Said Snape tersely. "A wizarding bar and one of the entry ways to Diagon Alley, where we will be shopping for all your supplies."
'Diagon?' Alanna mouthed to Michael who shrugged that he didn't have a clue.
Snape lead the four out into a walled in area behind the bar. It looked just like a small stone courtyard. They stood their silently watching as Snape pulled his wand from his pocket and silently tapped several of the bricks in a certain order, causing the wall to fold away forming an entrance into a completely foreign world.
"Cool!" exclaimed Laura, "Um, could you do that again, but more slowly this time."
Snape's shoulders tensed as he turned, "Are you going to be asking questions all day?" he ground out.
"Probably." Said Laura without hesitation.
"I can already tell that we will not be getting along." Stated Snape, looking at Laura with cold eyes. He then turned to the rest of the group and explained, "First of all we shall go a purchase your school books. Follow me quickly. I have far better things to be doing today."
They all followed Snape down a little lane to a store called Flourish and Blotts. During the short walk, the teenagers gazed at their surroundings with intense fascination. Men and Women were walking from shop to shop which were displaying the strangest. 'Did I just hear someone complain about pixies destroying a rose garden?' Laura thought to her self as she took in the sites. What the group didn't notice was that the surrounding wizards and witches who were also staring at the four strangely dressed teenagers with much fascination.
If the Hogwarts students were anything like their adult counterparts, Lucy could tell that Hogwarts was going to have to get ready for a change, for better or for worse with the arrival of the four Americans. For starters, they were not giving up their own clothing style. Laura wore green cargo pants and a black shirt that had a picture of Good Charlotte on the front and finally to top it of a pair of black Converse with flames painted on the toes of her shoes.
Alanna on the other had was the total opposite of Laura. She wore a black jagged edged skirt with a white sleeveless collared shirt and a pair of black Old-Navy flip-flops. Lucy had tried to warn her that it was colder in England during July, but Alanna insisted on wearing the flip-flops along with the other less-than-warm clothing.
Michael wore a pair of jeans and a Texas A&M t-shirt. He was trying to go for that "normal" look, though, here in wizarding England, it stuck out like a sore thumb.
Lucy wore a pair of hip-hugger jeans with a long sleeve, off the shoulder, pink and white striped shirt. She had been the only one of the four to take into account the temperature change that had been sure to occur, though she, like the other three, stood out among the wizards and witches in their robes. Not so much when she compared their clothes with that of the other teenaged witches and wizards, who were running around the alley, but still enough to cause plenty of people to do a double take. Some even began to mutter and whisper behind their hands when they saw who the four children's escort was.
Snape walked up the brick steps leading into the store, which on many occasions would turn out to be one of Lucy and Alanna's favorite stores to visit in their later Hogwarts days. As he opened the door and impatiently waited for the four to enter behind him, a small bell rang though out the store. Immediately a tall, thin wizard in dark blue robes with a small crest denoting that he worked in the store appeared.
"Good afternoon Professor Snape. How may I help you today?"
"I need four copies of each of The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1, 2, 3, and 4), A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, Intermediate Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection," the four started to stare at each other, wide eyed, as the titles kept coming, "Two copies of The Monster Book of Monsters, A Beginner's Guide to Arithmatic Equation, Functions, and Their Uses, The Languages of the World: B.C. to the Middle Ages, and Unfogging the Future; and one copy of An Extensive Guide to Muggles and Their Technology." Replied Snape handing the clerk the list of books he needed to purchase. The clerk hurried off to pull the books Snape had asked for.
"Well isn't this going to be an exciting summer," Laura muttered to Alanna who laughed at the defeated look that was now making itself know in Laura's face.
Lucy, who couldn't help wondering off in such an enormous bookstore, began to walk down the aisles, browsing the titles and looking to see if there was anything interesting she would like to read. She had heard from Alanna's mom that Hogwarts had an immense library and she hoped that she could find some interesting reads in there, though due to the fact that she had to try and cram three years of teaching into two months, she doubted she would have time for pleasure reading until the real term started 'If then.' She thought.
A book caught her eye as she scanned, Legends of the Prophetess, a dark green book with leather binding and silver lettering. She reached up and pulled the book from its spot. On the front of the book, she saw a strange symbol. It looked like a trident stuck on top of two mirror images of a treble cleft sign crossing over the two outer spikes of the trident. Curious, she reached out and traced her finger along the strange silver symbol. 'Weird,' she thought. As she touched it, she felt an attraction to the book, as if the book was calling to her, and she began to open it.
"Hey Lucy!" came Michael's voice from further up the aisle. Lucy turned to his voice. "Come on, we've got our books. Let's go."
Lucy turned, slightly disappointed, and gingerly placed the book back in its place on the shelves before walking back the way she came. She rejoined the little group just as Snape finished paying for their purchases.
Next, they headed to the Apothecary. As Snape opened the door, a strange smell wafted over them. Laura completely scrunched up her face as she expressed just how bad she felt the smell was, sending Alanna into a fit of giggles.
"Good afternoon Professor Snape." Came a soft voice, from the man who had suddenly appeared beside them. "How may I be of service?"
"I need to purchase four student sets of potions ingredients, four sets of crystal vials, and the items on this list. The list of ingredients is for Hogwarts' and my own personal stocks and should be sent directly to Hogwarts."
"Of course Professor." Replied the man before he vanished to retrieve the items that Snape requested.
Soon enough the man returned, and Snape purchased their ingredients and vials. Again, Snape swept the group outside and across the street to another store where they purchased their cauldrons, scales, and telescopes. They went into another store and purchased their quills, ink, and parchment. All of the purchases were placed under a shrinking spell and placed with the rest of their purchases into the bag that the four took turns carrying. Luckily, along with a shrinking charm, Snape also put on a weightless charm so the bag barely weighed more than a feather.
Next, Snape led them to an old, shabby shop with the words 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.' in faded gold letters above the door.
"Before we enter, Mr. Ollivander has been told of your circumstances as it will help him to find the wand that would most likely match to you. No one else, besides the professors of Hogwarts knows your information. When the school year begins it will be up to you whether or not you inform anyone else of what you are."
With that information, Snape opened the old, paint chipped door, and a faint tinkling sound rang through out the store. An old man appeared from the dark recesses of the back of the shop.
"Ah, Severus Snape. So nice to see you again, my boy. It's been a long time since I've seen you. Ten and half inches, oak, Dragon Heart String, how has your wand been treating you? Fine. Good. Now which of you four shall we start with." said Mr. Ollivander in an old reedy voice. "Miss Weasley, why don't we start with you?" He turned too quickly away from the four teenagers to be able to see the amazed looks on the four faces. When he turned back around, he held a long tape measure. "Now which is your wand arm?"
"I'm left-handed." Replied Laura.
Ollivander took a few quick measurements before he turned to the shelves, which left no space on the wall they uncovered and were filled with thousand of long thin boxes that each held a wand. He pulled out a box, opened it, removed the wand, and carefully handed it to Laura.
"Olive, Dragon Heart String, thirteen and a half inches."
Laura gave the wand a wave only to have it snatched quickly from her hand and be replaced with another, which was likely waved and disposed of.
"Here," said Mr. Ollivander, "this is a new type of wand that I'm trying, after all for some reason metamorphmagi, like you, often have problems with the traditional types of wands. They seem very clumsy. This is Mahogany, eleven inches, and powdered dragon scales."
Laura gave the wand a wave. Blue, green, black, and gold, sparks exploded out of the wand in a shower.
Ollivander clapped his hands together. "Oh very good! Now, how about you, Miss Youngblood?"
After the quick measurement with the tape and the fact that Alanna was right handed, Ollivander began to search among the multitudes of boxes for the one that would contain Alanna's perfect wand.
"Here try this wand, willow, ten and three quarter's inches, and unicorn hair."
Alanna gave it a wave.
"No, no, how about this..." and just like Laura it took several tries before...
"White beech, twelve and a quarter inches, with unicorn hair."
Alanna gave it a wave and several white lovebirds shot out the end.
"Very good, very good!"
Alanna watched the birds fly freely around the room, until Snape waved his wand and was able to get rid of all the flying. She turned, completely affronted, to glare at him, a glare that he ignored completely.
"And you, Mr. Bradley."
Like Alanna, Michael was right handed. Again, it took several tries before the right wand found Michael.
"Ebony, powdered unicorn horn, and twelve and a quarter inches. Such a strange combination hasn't been seen since Merlyn had something of that sort. Though I believe he later transferred his wand's power into a staff that he liked to carry around. I think he put the powdered unicorn horn into a round, glass globe which he fixed atop the staff.
"Now to find you a wand Miss DeWitt. It won't be as hard to find you a wand as most prophets and prophetesses keep to the Phoenix feather wands. I believe it's because phoenixes have extremely long life spans so that they live to see the future. I suspect that the feathers help to enhance their seeing abilities."
"I'm right-handed too." Said Lucy replying automatically to the question that each of the previous three had been asked.
Ollivander brought out several wands with phoenix feathers before they found the right one.
"...white oak, thirteen and a half inches, phoenix tail feather."
As soon as she touched the wand, her eyes became unfocused and dull.
"She must be a powerful seer to be able to go into an immediate trance like that." said Ollivander in awe.
"An imposter shall give the element for the Dark Lord's regeneration and his followers shall flock to his side. They will bring the war to the founder's doorstep where all shall be decided." Said Lucy in a far-away voice.
Lucy collapsed in a faint as soon as she had stopped speaking. Michael barely caught her before she hit the ground.
"Lucy...Lucy..." came a familiar voice through the Lucy's unconscious mind.
Slowly she regained consciousness.
"What happened?" she asked in a slightly disoriented way.
"You just gave your first prophecy." replied Michael.
Lucy looked up from where her head was rested in his lap. "What did I say?"
"An imposter shall give the element for the Dark Lord's regeneration and his followers shall flock to his side. They will bring the war to the founder's doorstep where all shall be decided." replied Snape who had a thoughtful look on his face.
"The Dark Lord, you mean Voldemort right. But who is the imposter and where is the founder's doorstep." asked Lucy
"Please, don't say that name." said Ollivander.
Snape seemed to snap out of his thoughts.
"Come we must finish our shopping." He said with no further discussion of the incident.
Snape paid for the wands and then led the four back into Diagon Alley.
From there they went to Madam Malkin's and fitted for there school and dress robes in a whirl wind of activity. Michael found a fashionable pair of black dress robes. They bore a strange resemblance to his Hogwarts robes except these were made of a finer material. Alanna had eventually found a dress that was long and white with red rose embroidery that wove around the dress. It also had a couple of red, ruffled under layers that were revealed when Alanna connected the white layer to her finger with a silver ring. The dress' straps were two sashes that crisscrossed around her neck. Laura found a spaghetti-strapped, hunter green dress that was elegant in its simplicity. It seemed to leave everything to the imagination, but still gave subtle hints here and there. Lucy found a dress of satin fabric that clung to her curves and flared ever so slightly at her hips. The fabric flowed to the floor where it pooled at her feet in a small train, and the off-the-shoulder sleeves hung to her fingertips.
They were just about to leave the store when the door opened and a tall man with long blond hair walked in followed by smaller version of him.
"Ah, Severus, I never thought I'd see the day when you were forced to escort muggles around Diagon Alley. I feel extreme pity for you." Said the taller of blood haired men with a sneer.
"Lucius, Draco." Greeted Snape with a nod of his head. "I'm just doing my job."
"I never realized Mudblood escort was part of your job description."
"It normally isn't Lucius, but none of the other Professors could be spared for this dismal duty. So Dumbledore assigned it to me." Replied Snape, the strain of his voice told of his waning patience.
"How very unfortunate. They look very unfortunate too, which I guess is the reason for the escort." Sneered Lucius, looking at the four teenagers.
Laura opened her mouth to protest such a statement, and Michael quickly covered her mouth with his hand.
"They are new transfer fourth years from America," lied Snape smoothly, "as they are not familiar with Diagon Alley, they needed an escort to retrieve their school supplies."
"It seems a little early to be shopping for fourth year supplies." Said Lucius suspiciously.
"That's what I tried to explain to Dumbledore but he didn't want to listen to reason, so here I am."
"Ah, well Dumbledore has never been very intelligent when it came to certain matters, especially muggles. Well, I'll let you get back to your distasteful task." Snape spat.
"Good to see you again Lucius." Said Snape as he left the shop followed by the four. Michael had to drag Laura out and still had his hand over her mouth to prevent anything unfortunate from slipping out.
As Lucy and Alanna passed they both caught Lucius watching them with curious look on his face as if he didn't quite believe Snape's story. The look caused both of them to let out a slight shiver.
Michael let go of Laura's mouth when they were in the clear with a loud 'ew'. Laura had stuck out her tongue causing Michael to release her.
"That's gross Laura!" he exclaimed as he wiped his spit-covered hand on Laura's sleeve.
"Michael!" squealed Laura, "Don't wipe your hand on me."
"Why not," replied Michael, "it is your spit after all."
"So?" inquired Laura.
Michael let out an exasperated sigh. Lucy and Alanna were laughing at the two, and Snape had already started out down the Alley. The four had to run quickly to catch up and follow Snape into a very odd-looking shop.
"Hogwarts will not be buying your pet, but Dumbledore informed your parents of this opportunity. They each sent him some Muggle money, and he had the money transferred into Wizarding Coins." Snape handed each of the four a bag filled with some coins. "This money is for you to purchase a pet, or, if you choose not to buy a pet, you can use the money on any Hogsmeade trips that you choose to attend."
"What's Hogsmeade?" asked Laura automatically.
Snape's lips curled up in a sneer before he walked away towards the counter.
"What'd I say?' Laura asked her friends who all just shook their heads and turned to go search the shelves for their perfect pet. Lucy walked silently through the store, scanning the names as she already had her cat.
"Lucy!" came Alanna's excited voice from within the shelves.
"Alanna!" Lucy mocked as she walked over to join he friend.
"Aren't they CUTE." Whispered Alanna as she looked into a wire cage that was taking up a lot of space in the aisle.
"They look like ferrets." Stated Lucy, unimpressed.
"They're Jarveys." Said Alanna while pointing to the nameplate under the cage.
A pure white Jarvey walked up to the cage and stood on it's back legs looking straight into Alanna's eyes. Brown eyes meet brown eyes before the Jarvey opened its mouth and uttered "Cute!"
Alanna let out a surprised laugh.
"That one's coming back with me." Declared Alanna before she left to go find the storekeeper.
Lucy smiled and wondered off down the aisle, and saw that Laura was a few rows down starring into a cage of dog like animals called Crups. She continued until she came along to another cage filled with what looked like large balls of fur called Puffskeins. Lucy continued reading the nameplate about the Puffskeins. As she read further down the description, a large grin began to spread across her face.
"Alanna!" called Lucy.
This time it was Alanna's turn at mocking as she came down the aisle with the white Jarvey in her arms.
"Read this." Said Lucy pointing to the sign.
Alanna read the sign with a similar smile.
They both grinned at each other before calling, "Laura!"
"What?" asked Laura as she joined them in the aisle.
"This is just what you would want." Said Lucy pointing at the glass case.
"Puffskein," read Laura aloud, "great wizarding pet that has no objections to being tossed about and is easy to feed. The puffskein will eat almost anything, but particularly likes to stick its tongue up the noses of sleeping wizards and eat their boogies."
Laura stopped reading. "That's awesome!" she exclaimed as she turned and walked back to the front counter to get the witch there and paid for the red and cream haired puffskein.
Meanwhile, Michael, ever the more efficient minded of the group, had chosen a brown owl with a white face that he named Athena. Michael offered her mail delivering services to the other three if she was not already out delivering something else.
With the addition of Leo the ferret and Fuzz the puffskein, the group left the store to head to their last stop, Quality Quidditch Supplies.
"Hey Lucy," said Michael as they walked, "where's your pet?"
"Right here," she replied as she reached into her bag that had been hanging off her shoulder and pulled out a black wad of fur.
"You've had a cat in there this whole time? Is he alive?" asked Michael jokingly as he gave Lucy's cat a slight poke.
The cat lifted its head and bit at him.
"Serves you right, Midnight doesn't like to be poked."
Lucy tucked Midnight back into his place and entered the Quidditch store behind Snape.
"Man, I hate that cat." Michael muttered before he entered the store.
"How can I help you misses and sirs?" asked the storekeeper at the counter.
"I'm here to pick up the four Firebolts Professor Dumbledore ordered." Replied Snape.
"Yes, of course, right away sir."
The storekeeper vanished into the back of the store. When he returned with the four brooms, he placed them on the counter. Snape paid for them and then left the store. Once they were in the street again, Snape turned to the four.
"Here," said Snape as he handed a broom to each of the friends, "The Heads of Houses all decided together that Hogwarts would purchase you brooms."
They all stared at the brooms in their hands.
"This is so cool." Whispered Laura.
"Thanks." Said Alanna and Lucy at the same time. Alanna turned to Laura and smirking said, "So witches really do ride brooms."
"We've purchased everything that is needed for your classes." Snape declared, "Now, let us return to Hogwarts." Said Snape. He led them back out of Diagon ally and into another room of the Leaky Cauldron before he held out another box. It was much the same as the first, though this one had a crest emblazoned on the top. The crest would become very familiar after attending Hogwarts for the next four years. Everyone placed a hand on the box and felt the yank behind the naval again as the five people vanished from Diagon Alley.