Ah, morning. The birds chirping peacefully outside, the feel of the warm sunlight upon my face, and the smell of Mrs. Weasley burning the bacon. Hold up. Mrs. Weasley never burns food.

Sitting up in my makeshift bed, I took a sniff around the room. Something was definitely burning, and it didn't smell like food. Looking over to the sleeping body next to me, I pushed on Brooke's shoulder to wake her up.

"Whaaaaaat…." She groaned, not bothering to even turn over.

"Do you smell something burning?" I asked. Finally accepting that I wasn't going to let her go back to sleep, she sat up in bed and sniffed the air.

"Yeah, I do," she said waking up a little more alarmed than before.

Putting my feet on the wooden floor, I felt heat on the back of my ankles. Before I could even move to investigate the source of it, there was a large crack from under my cot and I launched myself forward onto the floor.

"What the..," I began before another crack interrupted me along with a flash of light from under my bed. As if a flood gate was raised, popping noises resounded throughout the room along with flashing lights.

Absolute chaos erupted. The animals, who hadn't stirred until now, lost it completely. Megie jumped from the foot of bed and sunk her claws into the front of Brooke's shirt. Catching Brooke off guard, both of them tumbled to the floor with a loud thud. Well, this scared the cat even more. She tried to flee, but because her claws were now stuck to Brooke's shirt she scrambled around in a panic yowling loudly. When Brooke reached out to try and unhook one of her paws Megie immediately bit her on the hand causing Brooke to swear loudly in pain from not only the bite, but also from the amount of scratches her abdomen was currently enduring.

Mr. Bobbles, however, had flown from his perch on top of the wardrobe screeching shrilly and flapped around the room causing feathers to float around everywhere. I got up off the floor and stood on top of the bed trying to get a little more height so I could reach out and grab him. Of course grabbing an owl scared out of his wits, all the while trying to avoid his sharp talons, wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. I quickly had to retract one of my arms before he sliced clean into it.

Being drawn to the noises coming from our bedroom, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley burst through the door.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley. Brooke and I froze and looked directly at them, a mixture of shock and confusion on their faces as they took in what they saw.

Brown and black speckled feathers littered the entire room. They were in our hair, on our clothes, the furniture, and even on Megie. I was standing on the bed arms still outstretched trying to catch my owl, who was still flapping wildly around the room. Brooke and Megie still lay upon the floor with Brooke holding Megie away from her body, claws still attached to her shirt.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley pointed each of their wands at our animals and said, "Immobulus!" A blue light shot from both wands and hit Megie and Mr. Bobbles, who immediately came to a halt.

I reached up and grabbed Mr. Bobbles, who was hovering in the air, and carefully folded his wings in. Brooke slowly unhooked Megie's claws from her shirt and began plucking feathers out of her fur.

"Now, what in the Merlin's beard is going on in here?! Honestly! I expected better behavior from you two!" scolded Mrs. Weasley.

"It wasn't us!" defended Brooke. "Kristin woke up and smelled something burning and then these small explosions just started going off from under her bed."

"It scared Megie and Mr. Bobbles half to death!" I said stroking my poor, still frozen, owl.

"Explosions, huh?" said Mr. Weasley suspiciously. He got down on his hands and knees and looked under my cot.

"I think I know who the culprits of this are," he said pulling out a smoking pot from under the cot. Inside the pot were the smoking remnants of fireworks.

"FRED! GEORGE!" yelled Mrs. Weasley furiously.

Poking their heads around the corner were a pair of red-headed twins who looked like they had held in their laughter long enough. They just couldn't hold it anymore and both of them exploded with laughter, tears streaming down their faces.

"Seriously?! What is up with you two and trying to blow me up all the time!" I yelled at them. I couldn't exactly find the humor right now because I still had ongoing heart palpitations.

"Hey, we weren't the only ones involved!" said George. On the other side of the doorway peaked the three heads of Devin, Jeremiah, and Ron. Laughter resounded around the room from all five boys. There were even some knee slaps involved.

"Oh, it's on." Brooke said mercilessly.

"Devin! Jeremiah! I'm owling both of your mothers!" Mrs. Weasley said storming over to them. "And I expect every single one of you to have this room spotless in thirty minutes or there will be no breakfast for any of you!"

Mrs. Weasley stalked out of the room with Mr. Weasley trailing behind her shaking his head.

"Worth it," said Devin wiping a tear from his eye.

"You should've seen your faces," said Jeremiah, finally calming down enough for him to catch a breath.

"Comedy gold," said Fred walking into the room smiling ear to ear.

"Well, Freddie. It looks like our little invention worked," said George proudly.

"You mean you made those fireworks and used us as GUINEA PIGS!" shrieked Brooke.

"Think of it more as contributing to our future," said Fred.

"You won't HAVE a future when I done with you!" Brooke replied.

I walked up to him, holding my now stirring owl, and jabbed my finger in his chest.

"You won't know when and you won't know where, but we will find you and we will have our revenge!" I said dramatically.

"I think we've just awoken the beast," I heard Jeremiah say as Brooke and I both waltzed out of the room.

Entering the kitchen we found Mrs. Weasley hard at work over the stove making, bacon, eggs, and biscuits. All of that flouncing around like loons this morning had made me hungry. Mr. Weasley was sitting at the chair by the window reading this morning's Daily Prophet and Ginny was scrounging around in the pantry trying to find whatever her mother had set to task.

"You're not going to work today Mr. Weasley?" Brooke asked sitting down in one of the chairs.

"No, the Ministry gives those of us with school-age children one day off before they leave," replied Mr. Weasley. "It gives us time to spend with our families and finish up any last minute shopping we have to do."

"Well, that's thoughtful of them," she said. "By the way, if it's possible, could I see where you work someday?"

"Absolutely!" he said with his eyes all aglow. "Ah, I see your companions are starting to wake up,"

Megie was in Brooke's lap stretching out the stiffness from the Freezing Charm and Mr. Bobbles, who I had placed on the kitchen table, began to flutter his wings.

"Girls, those hoodlums upstairs are probably done cleaning your room, why don't you go get ready and after breakfast we can leave for The Leaky Cauldron."

"Okey, dokey! I imagine Mr. Bobbles would like to get out of the house after that large commotion this morning. Wouldn't you my sweet little owl," I cooed at him. He hooted back softly and nudged me with his beak affectionately. Oh, he was soaking this up and going to milk it for everything its worth.

I held out my arm for him to hook himself too and we walked back up the stairs. Entering the room, we found it surprisingly clean and hoodlum free. Maybe if I let them prank us more often I could get them to clean out Mr. Bobbles' cage. I walked over to the window and kneeled down on the bed to unlock it and Mr. Bobbles didn't hesitate to take flight when he saw it was opened. Megie hopped out of Brooke's arms and placed herself on the windowsill to laze around in the sun.

After Brooke and I dressed and brushed our teeth we walked back down the stairs and joined the rest of the family for breakfast. We took our places at the table with everyone else and all of us began to eat. After the conclusion of the delightful meal, we helped clean up and followed Mr. Weasley into the living room.

"So, Dad, are we going by car or Floo Power?" asked Ron.

"Well, Floo Powder will be easier since we can just arrive at the Leaky Cauldron," replied Mr. Weasley.

"So what's Floo Powder?" questioned Devin.

"Allow me," said Percy volunteering a little bit of knowledge from that humongous head of his. "Floo Powder was invented by Ignatia Wildsmith in the Thirteenth Century and is a glittery, green powder that allows Witches and Wizards to travel through the Floo Network via fireplace."

Devin just had an incredibly dumbstruck look on his face and said "…..what?'

Oh, good grannies. Percy's explanation was about as helpful as an anchor at a rowing competition.

"…..Um thank you Percy, but maybe we ought to demonstrate it so he can understand," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Well if you insist, then I'll go first," Percy said.

"Good riddance," muttered George, to which there was a slight giggle on my part.

Percy walked over to a flower pot on the mantel piece and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder. He threw the powder into the fireplace and huge green and yellow flames shot up. He calmly walked into the fire and said, "DIAGON ALLEY." The flames consumed him and disappeared leaving the fireplace as if they were never there in the first place. This sight left Devin's jaw slightly askew.

"So basically, it's kind of like a portkey except with a fireplace?" he asked.

"That's the gist of it," replied Mr. Weasley.

"So where exactly do you come out at?" asked Devin.

"The fireplaces in the wizarding community are all connected, this is called the Floo Network. All you have to do is say the name of where you want to go and you'll come out at that fireplace. We'll come out at the fireplace in The Leaky Cauldron. It's a wizarding pub in London that connects to Diagon Alley," explained Mr. Weasley.

"And don't worry about the fire, mate," said Ron. "It doesn't hurt, it just kind of tickles."

"Alright, I'll try it next then," said Devin. Sniff. Look at him all grown up and joining the wizarding community.

"And remember to keep your elbows in, eyes closed for your first time, and to speak loudly and clearly," instructed Mrs. Weasley.

Devin grabbed a handful of powder out of the flower pot, threw it in the fire, and walked in hesitantly. Once he felt the fire didn't burn he said, "DIAGON ALLEY" and vanished.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. He just hopped right on in there didn't he?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Well, Devin's pretty fearless," said Brooke.

"That explains his lack of fear last night coming up with the fireworks plan," Fred said thoughtfully to himself.

"Hold up!" I said holding my hand up. "HE came up with the prank?"

"Well, Fred and George let it slip last night about how they tried to blast you into space with some rockets and it just kind of escalated from there," explained Jeremiah, holding in laughs no doubt thinking about this morning's debacle.

"Kristin, I believe the target of our revenge has narrowed considerably," said Brooke.

"Oh, I concur Brookie Cookie," I said.

I marched straight up to the fireplace, grabbed some Floo Powder, threw it into the hearth and yelled, "DIAGON ALLEY!"

With a whir of green flames I was thrown onto my back and slid down what seemed like that never ending slide off of that episode of the Rugrats. You know, the one where Chuckie's afraid of going down the slide?

I twisted and turned as fireplaces flew past me and I stared up at the empty abyss that consisted of a rush of golds, yellows, and browns. It gave the sensation of being in a really long tube. Ending my journey, I was turned upright on my feet, surrounded by fire once more and landed safely in the fireplace of The Leaky Cauldron.

Waiting at a table in the middle of a large room, which was purely used for Floo Powder travel, were Devin and Percy. The latter of which looked like he was about to die of boredom listening to Percy educate him more about the Floo Network. Good.

"Devin Skipper!" I scolded marching over to him. "What's this I hear about you being the mastermind behind that prank this morning?"

"I'll try to be quieter about the one tomorrow so you won't be able to hear," he said grinning and leaning back in his chair. Oh, is that how he's going to play it?

"Well, just so you know Brooke and I have now made you the sole target of our spectacular plan for revenge," I proclaimed proudly. Maybe he wouldn't catch my bluff.

"Ok," he said rolling his eyes. Crap, he caught it.

Behind me I heard a whooshing sound, and out of the fireplace popped Ginny.

"Jeremiah, should be next," she said walking over to us and taking a seat next to Percy.

As if on cue Jeremiah walked out of the fireplace next, soon followed by the others who came one by one.

"Alright you lot, I want you on your best behavior," Mrs. Weasley said looking at Fred and George in particular. "We'll be going to Gringott's first, and then we can split up from there. I want each of you to have all of your school supplies bought BEFORE you go and look around at the other shops."

"You're not going with us?" asked Jeremiah.

"No. Arthur, Ginny, and I will be getting some supplies for your dinner tonight," she said. "Don't worry, Ron and Kristin know the way around so you won't get lost. Oh! That reminds me!"

Mrs. Weasley reached into her purse she was carrying and gave each one of us a slip of paper.

"This is your school supply list," she said.

The list had come with our Hogwarts acceptance letters and our parents had sent them over to the Weasley's since there was no way we could really buy any of this over in the United States. None of the US wizarding schools had the same curriculum as Hogwarts, so they wouldn't have the same supply list. We did, however, already receive out wands.

I looked down and read the list, this having been my first time to actually really pay attention to it. I merely glanced at it when it arrived, and then gave it to my mother. I knew I wouldn't be getting any of it until we left for Hogwarts, so I figured there wasn't really a need to read it at the time.

It read as follows:

Uniform

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags

Course Books

All students should have a copy of the following:

1. The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

2. A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

3. Magical Theory by Albert Waffling

4. A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

5. One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

6. Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

7. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

8. The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

1. 1 wand

2. 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

3. 1 set of glass crystal phials

4. 1 telescope

5. 1 set of brass scales

Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad.

PARENTS ARE ALSO REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.

"How are we supposed to carry all of this?" asked Brooke.

"There's two uses for a cauldron," answered Fred.

"Well actually there's multiple uses for a cauldron," added George. "You could use it as a helmet as well."

"Or a bell," I chimed in

"Or a bathtub," said Brooke.

"How in Bob's name would you use it as a bathtub?" I said. "It's too small."

"Not if you get one of those really big ones," she answered.

"Yes, but those are strictly ministry issued cauldrons, for making large batches of potion," said Percy.

"Then it's simple. We go to the ministry and we 'borrow' one," Brooke said using air quotes on "borrowed."

"And then you'll be tackled to the ground by the patrol officers, and we'll all have a good laugh," said Ron.

"I'd pay money to see that," said Jeremiah laughing.

"Alright, alright," interrupted Mr. Weasley. "It's time we made our way to Diagon Alley. Follow me, kids."

All of us followed Mr. Weasley into the main room of The Leaky Cauldron. There was a large table in to middle of the room, surrounded with smaller tables scattered here and there. Against the wall opposite of us was a built in kitchen and bar, with large barrels to the left of it and taps attached to each of them. To the right was the door that would take us into the courtyard that led to Diagon Alley and next to it was a small flight of stairs that led up to many rooms that people could rent out.

Wizarding folk of all kinds were gathered around several tables and people were constantly coming in and out of the pub. There were robes of all colors being worn with matching hats that ranged from the regular pointed hats, to large hats with feathers and flowers attached to them. I pretty sure one old witch had a stuffed vulture on top of her hat.

"Stay close, kids. It's busy in here today because everyone's out shopping," said Mr. Weasley.

We followed Mr. Weasley through the door and into a small courtyard. We were surrounded by brick walls on all sides that belonged to the adjoining buildings.

"I thought…," began Devin before Ron interrupted him.

"Just watch, mate," he said pointing towards the wall we were all facing.

Mr. Weasley took his wand and lightly tapped a brick in the middle of the wall three times. The brick began to wriggle and was soon followed by all of the other bricks. They moved around in a blocky manner making a large archway in the wall. The archway gave way to a very busy, cobbled road line with dozens of shops and street venders. People were darting in and out of different shops carrying large bags and what was too large to carry was simply floating behind them, with their wands raised.

"Every time I think I've got it figured out, something else just comes and blows it right out of the water," said Devin gazing down the road in amazement.

"We've grown up surrounded by magic, and there's always something that constantly amazes me," said Jeremiah.

"I think that's the thing about magic, it always just kind of catches you off guard," I said thoughtfully.

"Well, we can't dilly dally all day. You'll have plenty of time to look around later. Let's go," said Mr. Weasley.

He led us through the archway and into the bustling street beyond