Hannah Longbottom (née Abbott)

The train carriage was almost empty but for a few passengers. They all sat alone, some hunched over a book and others sat staring out over the fields lost in their own private worlds. One of the passengers was sleeping with their mouth wide open, into which a fly had just blundered, but they still did not stir. The engine thundered on as the train gained momentum and sped past the endless green fields. Skye looked out over the scenery thinking how peaceful and quiet it looked, with the cows scattered around, grazing as they pleased on the grassy pastures. Occasionally, the conductor passed by, smartly dressed in a blue uniform, aimlessly wandering down the carriages waiting for new passengers. It seemed to be a very quiet day for traveling.

Opposite Skye, sat Professor Longbottom still dressed in his strange attire, resting his head against the window. All train journey Skye had been pestering him with questions about the magical world and now he looked thoroughly exhausted. Nevertheless, Skye's mind was still whirling with all the different questions she wanted to ask. Her mother sat next to Skye reading what looked like a cooking magazine.

'Mum?' Skye said quietly with a questioning voice 'How are we supposed to pay for it all?'

Skye's mother looked down at her daughter and smiled slightly.

'Don't worry love, we'll be fine,'

Professor Longbottom had listened to their short conversation.

'Oh! Don't worry about the money side of things. We have a fund to help everyone with buying what they need so no one is left out,'

Well at least that's one less thing to worry about thought Skye as she sat there and stared out of the window becoming more and more nervous about the future.

—-

They huddled together as they walked down Charing Cross road as it was bustling with shoppers. Skye had been to London a few times in the past but she had no idea where she was. They came to a stop outside an old dusty record shop, however Professor Longbottom opened a black door in a small gap next to it. Skye would never have noticed it was there otherwise and so she committed the location to memory. Nobody even glanced at them as they disappeared into the tiny broken down entrance, almost like they didn't see it at all.

'Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron,' said Professor Longbottom with a flourish of his hands.

The inside, although it looked small on the outside, was brightly lit and quite cheery. As they walked towards the bar many people called out greetings to Professor Longbottom.

'How are ya Neville, I haven't seen ya in a while,' a thickly bearded man asked in a strong accent that Skye couldn't quite place.

'Fine thank you, Xankas,' Professor Longbottom replied cheerily.

A young brown-haired women stood behind the bar chatting to customer but turned and smiled at Professor Longbottom when she noticed him.

'Hi Madyson, do you know where Hannah is?'

'She'll be back in a minute. We had an Ashwinder lay its eggs in the corner over there. Good job Urbain noticed them. Nearly set the place alight it did!'

Professor Longbottom shook his head in amusement.

'Well I'm glad it didn't.' he said as a tall, blonde woman came through the door. Turning to her he said 'You didn't give the eggs to George did you? I don't want him making anymore love potions, they've already overrun Hogwarts,'

The woman, who Skye thought must be Hannah, raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

'What else am I supposed to do with them? I don't have time to be sending them to St Mungo's,'

Professor Longbottom smiled and lent over the bar and planted a kiss on her cheek.

'Well at least I didn't find the charred remains of the pub,' Professor Longbottom said smiling. 'Skye, Sarah, this is my lovely wife Hannah, who also runs the inn. You can stay here tonight, on the house, we've got a spare room,'

Stunned by their kindness Skye's mother blinked and stuttered.

'Th-that would be lovely. Thank you.'

'You'll probably need a few days to get to grips with the wizarding world, it's a little daunting,' Hannah said half smiling at Skye's mother.

'Yes. I think I probably will,'

Leaving Hannah at the bar, they walked through a door at the back of the pub onto a small, chilly courtyard which contained nothing more than a dustbin. Professor Longbottom began to tap the bricks in the middle of the wall in an anti-clockwise order with his wand. The bricks started moving, creating a gap which developed into an archway.

'Welcome to Diagon Alley,' Professor Longbottom said grinning at their amazed expressions.

Diagon Alley

Skye wished she had ten more eyes so she could see everything that was happening as she went past. There was a multitude of colours and smells overwhelming her as they fought through the bustling crowd. There was so many shops, selling everything you could ever imagine. The first shop had a bright red entrance and was selling robes of every kind, there was a shop selling telescopes and strange silver instruments, and there were windows stacked with tubs of frog's legs and fish eyes, piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles and phials. Their feet clicked on the cobbled floor of the alley as they walked. Skye could hear the high-pitched shrieking of a cat and the distressing hooting of owls from a small dark shop called Eeylops Owl Emporium. The large grey cat had managed to get past the owner at the front, who had then proceeded to chase after it and limit its damage. The staff from the shop adjacent, Magical Menagerie, where the cat had escaped from, had also joined in the chase.

All the people in the alley were wearing brightly coloured clothes and some of the older generations were wearing what looked like old-fashioned robes. People were sat in groups at large wooden tables underneath coloured umbrellas. One young girl was eating ice cream that had just changed from electric blue to bright pink. There was a lot of children similar to her age running around and coming out the shops full of shopping. It seemed like half the wizarding world was packed into the small space. Skye's mother was also looking around in complete amazement and she grabbed Skye's hand.

'It's so magical!' she cried laughing to Skye who grinned back, eyes full of awe.

A massive red and orange painted shop was the next thing that caught Skye's eye. She stopped stunned by the window displays which were full of colourful items that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced, and shrieked causing Skye to become transfixed. A giant ginger-haired head sat balanced on top of the entrance holding an enormous sign saying Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Adults and children of all ages were gathered around the outside of the shop looking through the windows trying desperately to get inside the overfull shop. Skye heard a young boy wearing mismatched clothes shouting to his mother 'Mum! Dungbombs! Please can I have some?' And some older girls were talking dreamily to each other 'Oh, I so need the Cupid Crystals!' 'No, the Beguiling Bubbles work much better,' came an equally dreamy reply. Every so often a red-faced person wearing magenta robes came out hurriedly and escorted people in and out the shop.

'Come on,' Skye's mother said pulling her away from the shop 'we can go later when we have some of the wizarding money,'

They carried on walking along Diagon Alley until the road split.

'Wouldn't want to be walking down there if I were you, not a very family friendly place Knockturn Alley,' Professor Longbottom said pointing to a narrow shadowed alley that split off.

All thoughts of what could be down Knockturn Alley were knocked from Skye's mind as she looked up in wonder at the great snow-white marble building in the middle of Diagon Alley that towered over the nearest shops. The enormous pillars at the front were wonky where the weight had nearly made them topple over. The only way it could be still standing is if it was supported by magic, which it probably was, thought Skye staring at it. A large engraved sign in the centre named it as Gringotts Bank.

'Ah, here we are. The safest wizarding bank in Great Britain. You'll be able to exchange as much Muggle money for wizarding money as you want, and I'll get you your school allowance to be spent on school equipment for your first year.'

They entered through the great marble entrance into a smaller chamber with silver doors. Above the doors there was a plaque with words engraved on it.

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

Skye didn't ever want to imagine the horrors they could bring down on her if she robbed the place.

Walking through the silver doors Skye was confronted by two guards dressed in a scarlet and gold. They were both short and fair-skinned with long pointed noses and pointed ears. One had a bald dome shaped head but the other had a mass of white hair. They had sharp slanted eyes and a clever faces giving the impression they knew everything that was going on. Skye looked up at Professor Longbottom.

'Goblins,' he whispered to them.

Inside, they came to a marble entrance hall, where hundreds more goblins were sat behind a long counter weighing gold and examining precious jewels. None of them looked up as we entered.

'First we need to exchange your muggle money.' Professor Longbottom said leading them over to a free goblin.

'We would like to exchange some muggle money, please,' he asked the goblin as Skye's mother took out a small wad of notes and a bag of change and gave them Professor Longbottom. The goblin hand out a long-fingered hand for the money which Professor Longbottom gave him. Skye couldn't see what the goblin was doing but she could hear some strange tinkling and clanging noises. The goblin appeared back over the counter and handed Skye's mother 10 large golden coins, a few smaller silver coins and some ever smaller bronze ones.

'I also need to enter the Hogwarts school funds vault, 375. I have the key,' Professor Longbottom said handing the goblin the key.

He turned to Skye and her mother.

'If you want to wait here, I'll be back in a minute with the money,'

Skye watched him disappear with a different goblin behind a wall and into the darkness.

—-

Two hours later, they had been in most of the shops and bought nearly all the items off the list. Professor Longbottom had left them a while ago when he knew they were fine, to 'go and see some old friends'. Skye had loved getting her robe fitted as she felt like she was properly in the wizarding world, and not just an imposter pretending to be a witch.

'Right, all we need now is a wand,' Skye's mother said consulting the list. 'Professor Longbottom said something about an Ollivanders?'

Skye spotted Ollivanders a few shops down. The shop looked slightly run down with its brown peeling paint and dusty windows. The gold letters above the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. The bell tinkled when they stepped inside the shop.

Inside the shop there was row upon row of narrow boxes lined up along the walls. An ancient man with a large amount of white hair and orb like eyes stared out from behind the wooden counter.

'Good afternoon,' the man said softly 'You are looking for a wand,'

It wasn't a question.

'Um, yes,' Skye answered awkwardly not sure what she was supposed to do.

'What is your name, girl?' he asked.

'Skye Bishop,' she answered.

'Hmm, and are you right or left handed?' he asked getting out a measuring tape.

'Right handed,' Skye hesitated, having to think about it.

'Okay' he nodded 'Hold out your arm,' He measured Skye from wrist to elbow, then shoulder to finger, shoulder to floor, and round her head. As he measured, he said 'No two wands are the same, just as no two wizards are the same. Wands are very complicated things Miss Bishop, and wandlore is hard to understand, however what you must know is that the wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around, so we will see which wand chooses you,'

Mr Ollivander had moved down the corridor and had started picking up boxes, putting some back with a shake of his head. When he got back to the desk he had three boxes. He opened the top one containing a wand with different shades of brown from the handle to tip.

'How about this one? Maple and dragon heartstring. Twelve and a half inches. Slightly springy. Just give it a wave.'

Skye took the wand gently, like it was about to break and waved it around. Several boxes flew off the shelves and Mr Ollivander snatched it out of her hand and gave her a very light brown one with intricate flame-like markings on it.

'Holly and unicorn hair. 12 inches. Light.' Mr Ollivander said.

Skye blew up the till this time scattering the coins everywhere. Skye had no idea what Mr Ollivander was expecting, but he seemed to be getting happier.

Mr Ollivander picked the last wand he had chosen.

'I think this one should do the trick,' he said handing it to her.

'Apple and Phoenix Feather, twelve and three-quarter inches, quite flexible.'

Skye took the wand and felt a sudden warmth in her fingers. She moved the wand in a swirling motion through the air, and a stream of gold sparks shot from the end like a firework. Skye smiled, proud she had made it work and her mother, who had been sat in the corner, stood up and started clapping.

'Oh, bravo!' Mr Ollivander cried. 'Yes, very good, indeed.'

He put the other wands back into their boxes and then started wrapping up Skye's in its dusty black box.

'You know Miss Bishop, you remind me very much of a young wizard many years ago who I sold a wand to. Do you have any wizard relations?' Mr Ollivander asked curious.

'Um, not that I know of.' Skye replied unsure.

Skye looked up to see Mr Ollivander giving her mother a piercing look and her mother studying the empty space above Skye's head.

'You probably just look very similar dear. Anyway, that will be 7 galleons, please,'

They paid for the wand and walked back to the Leaky Cauldron in silence. Skye did not think much about the comparison Mr Ollivander had made, however her mother could not stop thinking about it.

—-

A/N: Thanks for reading this far guys! There will be a plot soon...