The next morning, Esme was waiting patiently for Madam McNutly as she was talking to the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, Tom, who was a jolly bald man that happened to also be missing most, if not all his teeth. Esme didn't ask what they were discussing, but she figured it was about her by the way they kept looking at her. Esme looked around trying to find something to do to keep her occupied. The pub wasn't as interesting as Esme hoped; it was nothing more than a grey stone pub lit up by candles, and a warm glowing fireplace. The only thing that seemed magical was a floating kettle filling up drinks. While watching the kettle floatshe spotted a sad little plant sitting on a table in the center of the bar. She got out of her seat and walked over and examined the plant. It looked like it had almost lost all of its energy and would collapse at any moment, "Poor thing…" She looked at the pot and checked the dirt, "Goodness, no wonder you're sad. You've got no water… And no sunlight! How are you supposed to blossom in the shade…" She shook her head sadly, "I'll get you something to drink, okay?" Esme swore the plant perked up a little, but she figured it was just her imagination.

She asked a maid for a glass of water, who gave it to her with a smile, then she carefully poured the water all over the plant's dirt. Within seconds it seemed to recover some strength, "There we are… Feel better?" She held the flower under the bulb and helped it stand while she walked over to a window where the sun was shining through, "This should help as well…" The flower soaked in the sunlight and seemed to sway happily. Esme smiled, "Glad you're feeling better…" Then a gruff voice startled her back to reality, "Hey! Whatcha doing with my plant, girl?" Esme turned to see a very muscular man towering behind her, and he didn't look too happy to see her near his flower, "Um… I…" Esme took a deep breath, then smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't know this was your plant. I was just trying to help it…"

The man looked at her, then at the flower, which to his surprise was starting to slowly blossom, "Well I'll be Merlin's uncle… What'd you do?" Esme looked at his shocked expression then turned to the plant as well, the flower bulb seemed to be shedding itself as green leaves turned to white flower petals. Esme smiled as the petals spread out to reveal the beautiful flower that it was hiding, "Congratulations mister, you have a blooming Gardenia…" The man looked in awe as the flower proudly showed off its beautiful transformation to the whole bar, the alluring aroma brightening the mood of everyone around it. The man turned to Esme bewildered, "How'd you do that?" Esme went pink around the cheeks and happily taught him how to take care of his flower as Madam McNutly smiled proudly, "So… would you mind if she stayed?" Tom turned to Madam McNutly amused, "She would be interesting to have around…" He thought about it, "Alright, but I expect her to help…" Madam McNutly smiled relieved, "Thank you, Tom, I appreciate this,"

After a nice breakfast, Madam McNutly took Esme to a courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron and smiled, "Pay attention to this, Esme," Esme watched as Madam McNutly tapped some bricks on the wall with her wand, and stood amazed when the wall shook and made a doorway in the center, "Welcome to Diagon Alley, Esme," Esme gasped as she stepped through the newly made doorway and saw the bustling street before her. Esme's eyes widened as she tried to take in everything before her, while Madam McNutly pointed to each of the colorful shops explaining what they sold and who was in charge of each establishment. Esme noticed that the shops were weird forms like a roughly built block tower leaning to the side one way ready to collapse, like a game of Jenga blocks. Baffled at first, Esme then quickly remembered that they must have been held up by magic.

Eventually, Madam McNutly showed Esme a grandiose building that seemed to be made entirely of pure white marble, "This is Gringotts, the most secure bank in all of Europe… And probably the whole world if I'm being honest…" Esme blinked as she beheld the majesty of the building, then followed Madam McNutly inside. Inside the building, were huge counters with strange creatures sitting at them. They seemed to be very small, about 91 centimeters (approx 3 ft) tall, had giant noses and large pointy ears. Esme stayed close to Madam McNutly as they seemed to glare over their glasses at her.

"Morning, Griphook. I've got a new student here who needs a vault under the name Esme Brown," The creature leaned over the counter and peered down at Esme, who tried not to shake too much, "The Brown's did not inform me of another child named Esme," Madam McNutly shook her head, "Actually, Esme is the adopted daughter of a muggle family who shares the last name of 'Brown'. As far as I'm concerned there is no relation…" Griphook nodded as he sat back down in his chair, "Typical Muggle fashion… Having a common last name… Well, Miss Esme…" Esme looked up to see the creature addressing her and tried to pay attention, "If in the future you find your true lineage, be sure to inform one of us goblins and we will make the necessary updates to the vault,"

She nodded and then he turned to Madam McNutly, "Now then since you are her… Guardian… You will fill out the necessary forms for her. If afterward, you have some money to exchange, go see Gornuk at the counter over there," He pointed a long and wrinkly finger to another bored-looking goblin across the room and Madam McNutly smiled at him, "Thank you Griphook, I'll be sure to fill these out.." She grabbed the papers and started to fill them out as they walked over to the other goblin, Gornuk. "Good morning Gornuk, this is Esme and she'd like to exchange her muggle money," Esme tentatively walked over and gave Madam McNutly the purse that had all her Muggle money she had, which totaled 325-pound sterlings (approx $450).

Gornak nodded and took the purse, "Will you two come with me please?" he said as he hopped off his stool and walked towards the back of the bank. Esme looked puzzled but Madam McNutly smiled, "You won't want to miss this…" she said with a hint of excitement in her voice. They followed Gornak and were led to a cavern-like room with a railway track on the floor, "I advise you not to stand while the cart is moving, we don't want another accident…" Gornak mischievously chuckled then whistled over a cart. Esme looked at the cart in surprise but didn't question the physics of it. Once everyone was inside, the cart sped down the tracks at an incredible speed, much like the Knight Bus. Esme held onto the sides for dear life, but after the initial shock, she let out an enthusiastic cheer and enjoyed the ride.

After Esme had gotten some money for the day, 35 galleons and 10 Sickles, Madam McNutly took her straight to Ollivander's to buy her a wand. "Am I going to get a wand just like you Madam McNutly?" Madam McNutly smiled, "Of course you are, I don't expect you to go to Hogwarts without a wand…" Esme smiled and went inside the shop, which looked older than dirt itself, but she liked how peaceful and quiet the shop was. Around the corner of one of the many, many bookshelves came an old man who had wispy grey hair and pale, silvery eyes, "I thought that was you Morgan McNutly, Phoenix feather, 13 ¾ inches, supple, Poplar wood. If I can recall," He chuckled to himself. " Who do you have with you today?" Olivander said as he noted Esme. Esme waved to him and smiled, "I'm Esme Brown, it's good to meet you, Mr. Ollivander…"

Mr. Ollivander walked over and looked at Esme carefully, "You don't look like a Brown daughter… Are you a Muggle's daughter?" "Adopted daughter, actually, Mr. Ollivander," Esme responded embarrassed. Ollivander nodded and motioned to the shelves, "Well now that introductions are out of the way, let's get you a wand, shall we?" Esme nodded enthusiastically and waited as he walked around the shop grabbing long slender boxes off the shelves. Once he had a big stack he opened the first box and handed a wand to Esme, "Blackthorn and phoenix feather, 12 ¾ inches, rigid. Here we are my dear," Esme took the wand for a moment, then Ollivander proceeded to snatch it away from her, "Try this one, Elder and dragon heartstring, 9 ½, quite bendy," Esme raised an eyebrow as she slowly took it. Again it was taken from her almost as soon as she had it.

This went on for several minutes, with Esme receiving a wand from Mr. Ollivander then quickly receiving another one to no avail. Esme found Mr. Ollivander's actions perplexing, he seemed to be expecting something to happen, but what she didn't know. After a decent pile had been made on the table, Esme finally gained enough courage to ask him what he was waiting for, "Um, Mr. Ollivander… If I may ask, what is it you are wanting to happen?" Ollivander was in the maze of shelves, but his immaculate hearing made it so he could hear Esme's question regardless, "In all of my years of wand making, I've learned this truth: The wand chooses the witch or wizard, although it is almost never clear why…" Esme nodded then got an idea, "Mr. Ollivander, would you mind if I walked around to see if I can see which wand… Calls to me?"

Her voice went quiet as she finished her question, realizing how absurd she sounded. To her surprise, however, Mr. Ollivander gave an encouraging reply, "If you would wish to, I will not stop you. Just don't make a mess child…" Esme turned to Madam McNutly surprised, she smiled at Esme assuringly, "Go ahead Esme, wouldn't hurt to give it a shot," Esme took in a deep breath, then walked to the shelves and began her search. At first, she had no idea what she was looking for and felt quite foolish for trying in the first place. Inspite of her negative thoughts, she persisted and thought of the experience as a game of 'Hot and Cold'. She just needed to follow the direction that would make her feel something until she finally found her wand, and soon enough she found something.

She made her way to a shelf in the middle of the store labeled as 'Chestnut Wood Wands' and moved her right hand in front of each individual box searching for the... Something that she was feeling earlier. Finally, she found it, the box that was calling to her. Esme grabbed it off the shelf carefully, making sure not to topple the whole stack. Mr. Ollivander stepped out from behind the corner and smiled, "I see you've found a wand, Miss Brown… Shall we go to the front to test it out?" Esme nodded happily as she gingerly gave the box to Ollivander, who led her through the maze back to where they started.

Once they got to the desk, he opened the box to reveal a beautiful light brown wand, "Ah, I see. Chestnut wood with unicorn hair core, 11 ½ inches, slightly unyielding… Go on take it, my dear," He smiled as rested his hand on her shoulder and patted it encouraging her. Esme nervously held up the wand, expecting Ollivander to take it out of her hands as he had previously. Instead, a feeling of sunshine flowed down from her fingertips into her soul. With a swish, she raised the wand high above her head and gasped as a small explosion of tiny pink flowers shot out of her wand and gracefully fell around her. Madam McNutly beamed at Esme while Mr. Ollivander clapped proudly, "Bravo, Miss Brown! In all of my years, I have known very few witches and wizards who have been able to feel the call of their wands. I can tell that you are going to be a remarkable witch Miss Brown…"

Esme smiled and gave him a determined look, "You can just call me 'Esme', Mr. Ollivander. And don't worry, I won't let you down,"