It soon became evident that Rohini hated London. It was too noisy, too crowded; people hurried past them as if time was running out and without an apology as they bumped into them. The only positive aspect of it was that Hagrid's size caught less stares than what she'd expected. Harry must have sensed that she had lost her enthusiasm for he slowed down to walk at the same level as her.

"Um—Hagrid?" He asked at some point with a frown. "We haven't got any money so how are we going to pay for our school supplies? The list is quite long, and there're two of us."

"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid with a glance behind him. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"

"You mean… we actually have money? That belongs to us?" Rohini asked with a shocked expression; except from 50 cents that Uncle Vernon had given them for their eighth birthday, the twins had never possessed a single coin.

"Aye. First stop after the Leaky Cauldron is Gringotts, the Wizards' bank."

"Wizards have banks?" Harry asked and Rohini rolled her eyes at the stupid question.

"Gringotts, yeah. Run by goblins."

"Goblins?" Rohini repeated a bit too high and Hagrid shushed her as a few pedestrians glanced at them. "Sorry. Goblins?"

"Yeah. Untrusty creatures, goblins. Yeh should never mess with 'em, yeh hear me?" He said, suddenly serious and the twins nodded. Rohini somehow imagined some kind of little naked dwarves hording their coins like dragons and grimaced at the thought.

"What do yeh need to buy again?"

"First-year students will require: Three sets of plain black work robes, One pair of protective gloves…" Harry began, and Rohini followed:

"…One black winter cloak with silver fastenings, The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk, A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander… Fantastic Beasts? You mean, like, unicorns and stuff?" She asked and Hagrid's face seemed to brightened.

"Aye! Unicorns, Hippogriffs, dragons-"

"Dragons?!" The twins said in unison, their eyes comically wide opened. "Cool…"

"We also need a wand! Oh, and we can have a pet!" Rohini realised. "I've always wanted to have a cat! But Hagrid… can we really find all of this in London?"

"If yeh know where to go." Hagrid said mysteriously. "Ah, here we are!" he said as he came to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron!"

It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. Hagrid steered them inside.

The first thing they noticed was the noise: people with many accents were laughing and arguing all around them in a cheerful atmosphere, and there was music too. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of an auburn beverage. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him and seemed intrigued by the two children hiding behind him. Rohini was holding Harry's hand again, feeling suddenly a bit too warm in her blue sweater. "The usual, Hagrid?" Asked the bartender as he came closer.

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his big hands on the twins' shoulders, pushing them in front of him. "Just helping young Potters here to buy their school supplies."

The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent and Rohini felt the need to disappear.

"Bless my soul. It's Harry Potter and his sister!" Tom said, loud enough for all to hear him. An old man suddenly grabbed Harry's hand and began to shake it with a crooked smile.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."

"Thanks?" Harry answered, exchanging a confused and slightly worried glance with his sister. Rohini yelped as a witch grabbed her by the shoulder, half hugging her.

"Doris Crockford, Mrs. Potter. I can't believe I'm meeting you two at last!"

A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. And he had a purple turban wrapped around his head.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid, beaming. "Harry, Rohini, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-Potters," stammered Professor Quirrell with a nervous smile, "C-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."

"He'll be yer Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts." Hagrid explained.

"Dark Arts?" Rohini repeated and Harry discreetly elbowed her before offering his hand that Quirell refused.

" F-fearfully fascinating subject. N-not that you need it, e-eh, Potters?"

"Aah, yes, well, must be going now. Lots to buy. Heh. We'll see yeh at Hogwarts, Professor."

"Goodbye." Rohini quickly said before following Hagrid through the bar, all too happy to leave all this sudden attention behind. They stopped in the middle of a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.

Hagrid grinned at them.

"See, yeh two are famous!"

"Hard to miss it, yeah…" Rohini mumbled, kicking a pebble and nervously glancing at the bar behind them.

"All those people back there, how is it they know who we are?" Harry asked, tilting his head in confusion. Hagrid seemed suddenly uncomfortable as he looked away.

"I'm not exactly sure I'm the right person to tell yeh that, Harry. Now…" Hagrid got his umbrella out and seemed to count the bricks on the wall. "Three up… two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella and the magic happened; the brick he had touched quivered in the middle, a small hole appeared—it grew wider and wider—a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid. The twins' jaws had dropped as they stared in a marvelled state at the spectacle in front of them.

"Welcome," said Hagrid proudly, "to Diagon Alley."

They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall and as for Rohini, she was hesitating between being horrified at the large crowd of witches and wizards buzzling in the Alley, or staring at everything with wonder.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons—All Sizes—Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver—Self-Stirring—Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them. Owls were screeching somewhere.

Having eight eyes wouldn't have been enough to look at everything. The shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping in extravagant robes. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Rohini heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand—fastest ever—" She slowed down a little to stare at the shining broom but Hagrid gently pushed her forwards.

There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments they had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment… Finally, Rohini forgot about her distaste of crowded places for she was too amazed to care.

"Well there's yer money. Gringotts, the Wizard Bank. T'aint no place safer, 'cept perhaps Hogwarts." Hagrid announced, nodding at the huge building in front of them. Inside the bank, they walk down the shiny aisle, passing tiny creatures that rushed like busy bees.

"What are those?" Rohini asked, unable to look away.

"Well, Goblins of course."

"Of course."

Goblins were about a head shorter than the twins and were the ugliest things Rohini had ever seen, except perhaps for the Dursleys. They had long pointy noses and fingers and little piggy shining eyes.

They were now in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses.

"Morning," said Hagrid to a goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. and Mrs Potter's safe."

The goblin slowly put his feather next to his book before smiling in quite a frightening way, leaning closer. "And do Mr. and Mrs Potter have their key?" Rohini was going to answer that no, they didn't but was stopped by Hagrid who was now going through all of his pockets.

"Oh. Wait a minute. Got it here somewhere. Hah. Here's the little devil." He said, smiling as he finally found the tiny shining key. "Oh, and there's something else as well. Professor Dumbledore gave me this. It's about you-know-what in vault you-know-which." He said mysteriously while slipping an envelope towards the goblin. Rohini resisted the urge to ask about it and took another look around her instead.

"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!" He called and the goblin named Griphook did a little bowed before waving at the trio to follow him.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.

"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

Griphook held the door open for them. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches, suddenly less fancy that the white marble of the hall. Rohini shivered. There were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in—Hagrid with some difficulty—and were off, Rohini letting go of a small gasp as they hurtled through a real underground maze. Suddenly, the cart came to an abrupt stop.

"Vault 687. Lamp, please." Griphook asked and Hagrid handed him the lamp. "Key please."

"Wait to see what's inside." Hagrid said with a wink, and the twins exchanged an excited glance before the goblin opened the vault.

"Wow!" They gasped in union. Inside were mounds of gold coins, almost reaching the ceiling of the Vault. There were also columns of silver and bronze. If someone had told Rohini they would be rich one day, she would have laugh to their face. It was like a dream turning true.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid. "Didn't think your mum and dad would leave you with nothing, now did ya? Now, yeh should take a bit of everything; I'll explain the different coins to yeh later."

Xxx

The gold was a nice weight in her pockets, Rohini thought at the cart reached a new vault that had no keyhole and seemed even gloomier than the rest of them.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He slid a finger down the door and the vault opened in loud mechanical noises to expose a small white stone package. Hagrid hurried in and scooped it up before hiding it in one of his numerous pockets. Rohini had to bite her cheeks to hold back from asking what the package was.

"Come on, back in this infernal cart!" Grumbled Hagrid. One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts, now richer than what they had ever been. "Might as well get yer uniforms," said Hagrid, nodding toward a cosy looking shop named Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

"Hogwarts, dears?" Asked a chubby little woman as soon as the two entered. They had been left by Hagrid who was waiting outside, for he was still feeling sick after the few rides in the cart. "Got the lot here—another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face and blond hair was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry and Rohini on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over Harry's head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hogwarts, too?" The boy asked. There was something about him that made Rohini disliked him instantly.

"Yes," said Harry and a pregnant pause followed, before the boy spoke again.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands." He had a bored, drawling voice that made Rohini cringe. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own."

"Probably because we don't know how to fly yet?" Rohini said while rising an eyebrow and even though he seemed to tense up, the boy ignored her and kept asking questions to Harry instead.

"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," said Harry.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Harry said again while glancing helplessly at his sister who only rolled her eyes before nodding at the blond boy. She secretly hoped they will not be attempting classes together.

"What about your house? I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been—imagine being in Gryffindor," he said the last word with a clear disdain, "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"I was a Hufflepuff myself." Madam Malkin said and Harry was grateful for her intervention for he had no idea what the other boy was talking about. "Don't worry about the Sorting Hat's choice, my boy." She said to Harry with a smile. "He knows what is best for you. That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool and told Rohini he will be waiting for her outside. His sister stared at him as if he had betrayed her.

"Look at that man!" said the boy, nodding toward the front window once Harry was out. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Rohini and showing her the two ice creams he probably had bought for them. She felt her chest grew warmer at how kind the giant man was.

"That's Hagrid," Rohini said coldly. "He's my friend."

"Your…Friend?" The boy asked, rising an eyebrow, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"Excuse me?" She spat between her clenched teeth, ready to jump of the stool if the tailor hadn't stop her. The boy kept talking, a sufficient smirk on his face. Rohini would gladly punch him in his perfect teeth.

"I heard he's a sort of savage—lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk."

"Probably to forget about how stupid people like you are." Rohini snapped and the boy froze, finally losing his smile.

"What did you say?"

"I said-" Rohini began but was cut my Madam Malkin who said louder than necessary that she was done with the young Potter. Rohini hurried to pay and gave one last nasty glance to the rude boy before leaving the shop.

"Yer alright?" Hagrid asked and Rohini forced a smile on her face before accepting the chocolate ice cream he was handing her.

"Couldn't be better. What's next?" She asked and Hagrid glanced at the boy still inside the shop before announcing they'll stop to buy parchment and quills. Rohini cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. Then, they bought the numerous and quite heavy school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Rohini felt like she was in Heavens and it took Hagrid five good minutes to pull her out of the shop before she spent all her money here.

"We still need a wand." Harry pointed out as his sister pouted.

"A wand? Well, you'll want Ollivanders. No place better. Run along there, but wait. I just got one more thing I got to do. Won't be long." Hagrid announced before leaving them alone once more. The shop was narrow and shabby and peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382b.c.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place and once again Rohini felt like she was going to suffocate. She really hated small spaces. Harry felt s as though he had entered a very strict library as he looked at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling.

"Hello?" Rohini said. "Is someone here?"

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. The twins jumped before turning on their feet. A man appeared on a ladder at the back of the shop. He had wide, pale eyes shining like moons and Rohini felt an unpleasant shiver as he stared at them with a smile.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. The Potter twins." It wasn't a question and Rohini wondered for a second if he was able to read their mind. "You have your mother's eyes." The man pointed out, and Rohini raised an eyebrow; it was the first time someone had told them that. "It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." Ollivanders continued before joining them.

"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it—it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

"How cans a wand choose someone?" Rohini couldn't help but ask, regretting it as soon as the pale eyes fell on her.

"Let's see which one will choose you." He said with a smile. "Lady first." He added, handing a wand at Rohini who grabbed it with a trembling hand. "Go on, give it a wave!"

She barely twisted her wrist that a lamp exploded on their left, making the twins scream. She hurried to hand it back to the old man who went through the other boxes, before holding another wand to her.

"Black Walnut wood with a Phoenix feather core 10" and supple flexibility." He announced and Rohini had barely touched the wand that a pleasant feeling ran from her tips to toes. Somehow, she understood now what the old man meant by "the wand chooses the wizard"; it was like meeting someone again after a long time.

"Black walnut seeks a master of good instincts and powerful insight." Ollivanders began to explain. "It's a very handsome wood, but not the easiest to master and loses power dramatically if its possessor practises any form of self-deception. But paired with a sincere, self-aware owner, however, it becomes one of the most loyal and impressive wands of all, with a particular flair in all kinds of charm work."

"Neat." Was all Rohini could say.

"Now, for Mr Potter! Try this one. Beech-wood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible." Mr Ollivanders explained and Harry gulped before trying it. All the shelves came crashing down and Harry hurriedly put the wand back on the counter.

"How about this: Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try—"

Harry tried— and just like Rohini before, a second lamp exploded.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere—I wonder, now—yes, why not—unusual combination—holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.

"Curious… curious…" Ollivanders muttered and the twins exchanged a confused look.

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. The air felt suddenly colder, somehow and Rohini wished they could leave the shop behind now.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather—just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother—why, its brother gave you that scar."

"Who owned that wand?" Rohini asked and the man shuddered.

"Oh, we do not speak his name." Then, to Harry, "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It's not always clear why, but I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things...terrible, yes, but great."

The atmosphere was filled with a quiet tension now, which only vanished when someone knocked at the glass behind them. The two Potters gasped in unison when they saw Hagrid smiling brightly while holding two cages; one with a beautiful snowy owl inside and another with a Siamese cat that seemed asleep.

"Happy Birthday!" Hagrid said and Rohini quickly whipped her happy tears away before paying for her wand.

"Oh Hagrid, thank you!" She said once outside before wrapping the giant in her tiny arms. "It's the best birthday present we ever had!" Hagrid blushed, obviously pleased by the compliment. "Is the cat for me?"

"Aye, and the owl for Harry. Yeh will think of a name on our way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Come now!"

And so they followed the giant back to the pub, their new pet under one arm and the rest of their groceries under the other. Still, they didn't forget about the troubling words spoken by Ollivenders. But for now, Rohini's biggest problem was to find a suiting name for the cat now meowling in its cage.