When they had got to the end of the road and were safely hidden in the shadows, Dumbledore turned to the fifteen year-old girl.
"We're going to have to Apparate to Diagon Alley. It's not a very pleasant sensation, I must warn you. Grip tightly to my arm and don't let go, whatever happens."
Millie held onto his forearm as tight as possible as the wizard spun on the spot and disappeared.
She felt as if she was being shoved through a thin tube. Her ears popped, her guts protested and she felt as if she was about to be sick. When they landed a few seconds later, she leaned over and dry-retched.
"That was horrible. Where are we?"
The professor chuckled at her evident dislike for his preferred method of travel and gripped the girl's shoulders and turned her around to face the street they were in.
"This, Millie, is Diagon Alley."
She looked around, eyes wide, taking in everything. The brightly coloured shop fronts, the many groups of witches and wizards that filled the alley. They all wore robes but very few had opted for a hat in the hot weather.
She ran over to the nearest shop, which happened to be Eeylops Owl Emporium.
"Can we go in?" she asked Dumbledore longingly
"I thought we should stop at the bank first" he replied with a chuckle.
Millie's happy face fell suddenly and she looked at the floor.
"What's the matter, Miss Hart?"
"I haven't got no money" she muttered unhappily
The old wizard smiled and said: "Your mother actually had an impressive amount of money in her vault, most of it left from her great-great-grandmother. It's all yours now, of course, as she had no need for it when she left the wizarding world."
"Oh! Er...great!"
Dumbledore started making his way to the big, white building a the end of the alley, nodding to everybody he passed as they waved at him or greeted him with a: "Professor!/Dumbledore!/Albus!"
The teenage girl quickly followed him and stayed close to his side as they entered the grand building. She jumped when a goblin approached.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir, I don't mean to be rude but...what are they?"
"They're goblins, Miss Hart, and I encourage you to never get on the wrong side of one of them."
Millie looked at the creatures with newfound curiosity and respect. Some of them returned her gaze haughtily until she opted to look at her feet instead.
She followed the wizard up to a counter where another goblin sat, weighing a bag of coins on golden scales.
"What is it you require, Albus Dumbledore?" it said in a voice that had the girl drawing back from the counter. The professor put his hand on her shoulder.
"Miss Hart here, you knew her mother as Miss Barnes, would like to make a withdrawal from vault number 859. I have her key here, of course" he said, showing the goblin a silver key.
It stretched out a hand and examined the key closely, weighed it and then decided it was okay.
The goblin called one of his inferiors over and told him to take them to vault 859. They both followed the goblin to the tunnel mouth and watched as it climbed into a wagon. Dumbledore climbed in after and they both looked expectantly at Millie.
"No way am I getting in there" she said shaking her head. The goblin looked annoyed and then pointed a long finger at her. She felt herself being dragged into the wagon and landed next to the professor.
"Oy!" she protested. The goblin just looked at her again and the wagon started moving. The teenage girl closed her eyes and waited for it to be over.
"Vault 859."
All three of them climbed out of the wagon and the goblin turned Millie's key in the lock and opened the metal door.
In the vault, was a huge pile of golden coins, an even bigger mound of silver coins and a whole corner full of little bronze coins.
"The gold ones are called Galleons. The silvers are Sickles and the bronze coins are Knuts." explained Dumbledore to a gobsmacked Millie. I recommend taking only a small bag seeing as this has to last you throughout your years in Hogwarts and your adult life."
Millie took the money bag that the professor held out to her and took four handfuls of Galleons, three of Sickles and two of Knuts. When the money bag was full, she left the vault and beckoned nervously to Dumbledore so that he would bend down to listen to her.
"Is this really all mine?" she asked anxiously
The old wizard laughed: "Of course it is. You're not the first one to be surprised by money left by your ancestors."
They left Gringott's and the professor led Millie to a narrow and shabby little shop. In the window there was a single wand lying on a faded purple cushion. Above the weathered door, a sign read: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
"Welcome to Ollivander's, Miss Hart. Every witch or wizard needs a wand so before we start your lessons, we really must pay a visit."
The tall wizard pushed the door open and a rusty bell tingled. Millie went in hesitantly and looked around. Every wall was lined, from floor to ceiling, with thousands of narrow, wooden boxes, all of which were covered in a fine layer of dust.
"Albus!" greeted a weak voice from behind the counter. "What a very long time it's been..."
Dumbledore smiled at the old wizard and put his hand in his pocket, as if trying to hide his wand.
"Years, my friend! It seems like only yesterday I was eleven years old and buying my first wand from your father. You were only an apprentice in those days if I recall correctly"
"An apprentice I may have been but I still remember the wand my father gave you. 11 and a half inches, mahogany with a core of dragon heartstring and phoenix feather. Not too springy but not entirely unyielding. Am I right?"
The professor looked slightly uncomfortable but nodded.
"Can I see it?"
"Now, Julian" said Dumbledore, obviously wanting to change subject. "This is Millie Hart, she'll be starting at Hog warts next year and she hasn't yet got a wand."
Ollivander looked at him, annoyed and focused his attention on the girl standing next to the professor.
"Ah, yes. I remember your mother. She was fifteen too when she bought her first wand. Hers was cherry, I think, 10 and a quarter inches, springy, with a core of unicorn hair. Let's see..."
He turned to face the many boxes that lined his shop and trailed his finger across them, leaving a dust-free streak. He stopped abruptly, halfway around the room.
"Try this one" he said, thrusting a box at Millie. She took it and opened it to see a rather long wand made of dark wood. She disliked it at once but took it out of the box and, at a prompt from the professor, waved it, feeling foolish.
The chair that Dumbledore was sitting on exploded. The old wizard chuckled and repaired the chair while Ollivander quickly took the wand from the teenager's surprised hands.
"No, no, no" he muttered distractedly and carried on his walk around the room. He stopped again, a few metres from the last box, summoned a stepladder and got down two boxes from the top shelf.
"Try these."
Millie did as he said. With the first wand, which was a light colour and rather short, she set fire to her jeans.
With the second, she broke a window.
The wandmaker seemed to be enjoying himself, chuckling as the teenage girl destroyed his shop more and more with every wand she tried.
"Tricky costumer" he chuckled repeatedly under his breath.
The twelfth box he stopped was at the very back of the shelf. It had obviously been there a long time and was covered in a thick layer of dust.
He passed it carefully to Millie, looking at her curiously. She opened the box, blowing the dust off it and carefully touched the wand. It was a very light colour, medium length and with a beautifully engraved handle.
As soon as she touched it, she felt a warmth inside her that touched her very core. She picked it up enthusiastically and waved it ever so slightly.
Small gold sparks leapt from the end of the wand and everything that Millie had accidentally broken fixed itself. She smiled and waved it again gently, laughing as she was engulfed in the sparks.
"I think she's found her wand, Albus" grinned Ollivander "That'll be eight galleons, dear."
While she was counting out the thick gold coins, the old wandmaker took out his wand and muttered: "Expelliarmus!"
Dumbledore's wand flew out of his pocket and Ollivander caught it. After examining it for a few seconds he murmured.
"Can it be?"