I'm updating again, aren't I a good fanfic author? Don't answer that. Or do if you feel you have the time to review my efforts. I don't own anything blah blah blah. On with the show.

Chapter 7

Cat stepped through the arch that had materialised with the shuffling and rotating bricks and looked out at the wizarding world.

McGonagall was expecting one of several possible reactions: shock, awe and even catatonic denial of what was before them . She was not prepared for the uncontrollable giggling which initiated with Cat and then spread to her parents. "What are they wearing?!" Cat finally asking wiping tears from her eyes and taking deep breaths to control her giggles. She just couldn't believe it, admittedly there were fewer warts but there were pointy hats and cloaks, an old man walking past with a long grey beards nodded to McGonagall and stared at the Edwards's Cat couldn't help but stare back at the man with a broom stick over one shoulder and a cauldron filled with what appeared to be turquoise carrots sticking out of the top. He had on a dusty looking set of brown robes which fell to the floor and frankly she thought it was one of the funniest looking things she had ever seen.

"I don't know what you're laughing at Miss Edwards, you're the ones who are attired strangely." She motioned to their jeans and jumpers and motioned to the robed figures down the road. Now that you've finished gawking shall we?" Eyebrow raised and haughty aura firmly in place McGonagall began to lead them down the cobbled street pointing out the various shops which they would need to stop at and a few which might want in future years. "…and that's quality Quidditch supplies, that would be where you would buy a broomstick and Quidditch supplies in your second year or later if you are a part of the team or just enjoy flying. There are school brooms available however they would not be suitable for Quidditch should you make a house team as it is rather competitive and the championship is hotly contested. There are plenty of other house clubs and societies for example a chess club, debating club, dueling club was held last year but I'm not sure if it will be continued with our new defense against the dark arts teacher. The charms professor Flitwick, was a dueling champion in his youth but as head of Ravenclaw and sponsor of the charms and choir clubs I doubt he has time to sponsor a third. Do any of those interest you?"

Cat, however, had kind of zoned out of the conversation after the part about broomsticks. "So you really fly on broomsticks? What is Quidditch?"

"Yes we sometimes use broomsticks for transport but they are predominantly used for Quidditch these days, apparition and portkeys are more convenient and much faster obviously. Quidditch is a sport played in the air on brooms where players throw a ball to each other and attempt to get it through three hoops eighty feet up. Would you be interested in flying?"

"I think so, I'm not afraid of heights and that sounds like fun, is it like netball but flying?" McGonagall lead them to the fork at the end of the street to a large marble building which at first glance appeared to be built in a Palladian style with columns and facades, until you noticed that the entire building was crooked with one floor leaning in the opposite direction to the one below.

"It shares some similarities with netball. Right this is Gringotts, the wizarding bank, what you need to do is open account, you need to deposit a token galleon so that you qualify as a Gringotts customer and have access to their currency changing services." She led them to the first teller who happened to have finished with his customer. "Good morning we've come to open an account and exchange muggle currency for goblin." McGonagall finished with a slight nod to the goblin.

Cat couldn't take her eyes off the thing behind the counter, it had ears easily a foot long and a nose at least half that. It's black iris-less eyes focused on Cat and she instinctively decided that it was either trying to scare her or it was evil, either way she didn't like the creepy looking thing with long fingers and pointed nails.

It scratched her name onto parchment with a quill and had her parents sign the form. "Is the account for the girl?" It sneered at the Edwards's.

"It might as well be I suppose," Audrey said, "She'll certainly get more use out of it than we will."

"If you would sign…" The goblin handed Cat an ink black quill with no sign of ink. McGonagall was busy studying the small print on the top sheet of the form and was startled at two sharp intake's of breath, the first from Cat who was rubbing the back of her left hand where a red mark had appeared, the second was from the Goblin who looking puzzled reached for a stamp and slammed it down on the form.

"Account creation request denied. If you'll excuse me I will go get an account manager to discuss your vault."

"My what?" Cat asked, looking annoyed as she still rubbed her hand where her name had appeared looking like she had scratched it on the back of her hand, not quite breaking the skin but it looked irritating.

McGonagall raised her eyes to the ornate ceiling and sighed. She knew where this was going, you couldn't open a new account with Gringotts if you already had one. Obviously the blood quill had detected a previous account. It obviously didn't belong to her parents as they didn't share the same blood, so…

"Miss Riddle?...Follow me please."

McGonagall gathered the Edwards's and ushered them to follow the new Goblin. He led them into a plush office with padded chairs around a large mahogany desk. The back wall was covered in ledgers and folios while the others were bare but for flickering torch sconces.

"My name is Snaglock, I'm the account manager for your account Miss Riddle. I am going to be plain." He said steepling his impossibly long fingers and staring at the blonde girl in the red leather chair. "I assume you were unaware of your account as you attempted to open a new one. Your father did not write a will and left no indication of an heir when he died. It is the policy of this bank that any unclaimed vaults will be taken by the bank and the contents taken by the bank. However as there is clearly an heir you shall receive the financial value of the account upon it's closure minus the ministry inheritance tax of twenty percent plus the Gringott's sale managing fee for the artifacts which were sold upon it's closure. This is the statement for your account, the vault is still available so it will be refilled in due course with the amount shown."

He handed the overwhelmed girl a sheaf of parchment covered in black ink and numbers. She immediately passed it to her father who held it out in front of him and read the figures. He queried the mention of an apartment in Knockturn Alley which had been sold. And then raised his eyebrows at the sum at the bottom. "So Cat has nearly one and a half million galleons after all expenses?"

"That is correct."

"What is the exchange rate on Galleons to Pounds?"

"At the current rate it is eight Pounds twenty-one to the Galleon."

These words were met with stunned silence by the three Edwards's. Bloody hell her dad was rich. Audrey thought. Jack was conflicted between relief that he didn't have to worry about nearly a thousand pounds on school supplies while at the same time wondering how someone that wealthy hadn't made a will, or couldn't take care of his daughter for that matter. This was all over Cat's head a bit as she was reading the top sheet of parchment.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle." Cat whispered reading the name on the sheet. The space next to spouse was empty but next of kin had magically filled with 'Catherine Sophia Edwards'. She glanced furtively at her father and mother who were reading the statements. McGonagall and the goblin were both watching her. She gulped and pretended to read the sheet. She had seen in that glance that McGonagall knew her father, she was surprised by how desperately she wanted to know the man who had left her a small fortune even if he hadn't known she existed or had chosen to ignore her existence. She would ask McGonagall who he was and how he died, but not now she was too loyal to her parents to do that. It didn't matter as this man wasn't her father but she only had a small family and wanted to know more about her relatives, especially since she had all of his money.

Albus should have seen this coming. We might be able to keep the truth from others but how will we stop her finding out about her father now she knows his name. We're going to have to tell her. Perhaps not the whole truth but at least some of it, we need to make sure she won't tell people her father's name. It is not common knowledge and while death eaters do not know his name, those families that supported the light are all well aware of the half-blood Tom Riddle.

"Well then Mr Snaglock since the vault is not yet open could we have a bank draft book to make purchases with?" McGonagall had taken out a golden pocket watch and realised they had been talking for nearly half an hour. "Unfortunately we must get on as I am meeting another of your future class mates after lunch to show them around."

They trailed out of the bank and McGonagall decided where to go first. "I think Madame Malkin's robes first, they can get you sized and we can collect them in an hour, also while you're being measured we can get your potions and herbology supplies."

She led them into a shop with beautifully ornate dresses and hooded cloaks on rotating and hovering mannequins. Inside the front of the shop there were many racks of robes in all colours and styles, plain, as well as richly embroidered with stars, moons and symbols. While Cat had at first found wizarding fashion amusing she was now entranced by a set of beautiful cloaks in shimmering pale blue and silver silk. She was decidedly less impressed with the school robe section McGonagall lead them to which turned out to be, apart from a black cloak and pointy hat, similar to normal school uniform. There was already a boy with carrot orange hair being fitted for his school robes. As the shopkeeper was kneeling down to measure his trouser line he turned his head to look at the new customers, with a bored expression. His mother a dumpy woman with curly hair in the same shade of red turned and her face brightened with a smile.

"Good morning Minerva, how are you?" McGonagall smiled thinly at Molly Weasley, she had been proud of the high achieving Bill her eldest, and Charlie Weasley was one of the best Quidditch players to play for Gryffindor in decades but frankly after only two years with Fred and George she was growing to like the woman less and less. It had been her duty to inform the Weasley matriarch of their misdemeanours as their head of house. None of said misdemeanours had caused serious harm and were always in a spirit of good fun or in humorous retaliation against bullying. Frankly they were some of her favourite students and she felt that Mrs Weasley was far too harsh on them. She would never admit it but the toilet seat sent to their father at work was hilarious.

"Nice to see you Molly, outside of my office anyhow. Is this your youngest?"

"My youngest son, this is Ronald, Ginevra will be coming next year."

"Ah right. Well Ronald, there have six Weasleys in Gryffindor while I've been head and too many Prewitt's to count, think you have what it takes to join my lions?" She sized the boy up, he was too tall for his age and looked a little grubby but if his brothers were any indication he would either be talented or hard working or both.

"Ah escorting a new muggleborn Minerva? Hello dear my aren't you pretty." She said sizing up the blonde girl before her. "This is Ron he's going to be in your year at Hogwarts."

Ok Cat relax. "Hello my name is Catherine but everyone calls me Cat…unless my mum's around." She qualified following her father's fake cough. Her mother didn't hear as she was discussing the different robes needed with Madame Malkin and McGonagall.

"Hello. Mum can we go get lunch." Ron barely acknowledged Catherine. Her face fell, she had tried too hard. She wasn't cool enough. I always try too hard, it puts people off.

Not yet dear I need to have a look at the second-hand robes first to see which ones are closest to your size." Sensing the failure of a first meeting both parents steered their children to the task of buying school robes. Catherine could not deny the experience of standing on a stool and being measured by a magical hovering tape measure wasn't as fun as it sounded and quickly grew bored. Knowing that money was not a problem her parents made good use of the bank draft book and bought her nice new robes which would be made in under an hour to her exact size. She realised that the robes were actually very practical as they were not compulsory during the summer term but they were warm and fairly waterproof for the winter, which she knew from a weekend in Edinburgh was pretty grim in Scotland. Good for the crappy British weather in general. She thought to herself.

While the robes were being made up McGonagall went and took her mother to buy potions and herbology equipment while Jack and Cat would go to Ollivander's to pick up a wand.

The window display for Ollivander's was much less interesting than the one for Malkin's robes. It was a single dusty faded purple cushion with a long brown wand. There was a little tinkle from the bell as they walked through the door and stood gazing at the floor to ceiling boxes only a couple of inches in height and width.
"Ah to sell or not to sell that is the question." They were startled by an old man with manic hair and intense eyes who had appeared as if by magic behind a counter. Which when Catherine thought about it was probably true. "I think it is a question much more easily answered this time." He came forward and looked intently at the blonde girl. He was a short man and she didn't have to look up much to meet his penetrating gaze. "I cannot know what my wands will go on to do, but I can guess." He paused and placed a finger to his lips contemplating. "My conscience can live with the consequences this time." He smiled and pulled out a tape measure. "Wand arm?"

"What?" A thoroughly confused Cat responded to the little monologue from the strange man.

"Which hand do you use for your wand?"

"I'm right-handed…? Ollivander let go of the tape measure and it immediately began to measure her fore arm, her wrist and hand, the distance from her hand to her eyes, the circumference of various other appendages including her head momentarily blinding her, and on and on.

Ollivander having apparently forgotten that she was being assaulted by the tape measure began stroking boxes and muttering to himself. He pulled one out with a flourish and presented it to her. Removing the lid he bowed to her and handed her a thin piece of wood. "Ash, 12 and a quarter-inch, dragon heartstring, strong and unyielding, good for transfiguration and curses." She took the proffered piece of wood and looked at it. "Wave it then girl, it's a wand not a candle." She hurriedly complied only for the end to explode with acrid smoke and a noise like a whoopee cushion.

"Nope that wont do. Let's try something more flexible. Let's see ah here we are. Willow, fourteen inches, Kelpie mane hair." He proffered a longer thinner wand. "Nice and swishy good for delicate charms and enchanting." Once more she waved it only to have it snatched out of her hand before anything happened. "Nope not right. Not right at all needs more power but with a little flexibility." She began to believe that the man was completely mad as a succession of wands were handed to her and either snatched away immediately or led to various things being broken and a general mess of opened boxes and wands began to pile up on the counter.

Ollivander stopped after what felt like half an hour from his previous whirlwind of activity. "Hrmm tricky customer eh?" He seemed happy rather than irritated but was no longer manic. "I thought Phoenix but it is still waiting for another. I don't think I have the answer to this riddle. Ha ha." He chuckled to himself. "I have a few which weren't made by me, there is one which I feel I should have tried immediately. Yes it's so perfect for you. How arrogant I've become in my old age that I alone would have the right wand for every witch or wizard. Well it was bound to happen eventually I suppose." He went into a back room and they could hear a certain amount of cursing. "Here we are." He announced upon returning looking slightly dusty. "This is not an Ollivander creation, but a Gregorovitch. He gave me a few in exchange for a few of mine to study. Yew, thirteen inches, it bends but is still strong, I think it will suit your talents, but more importantly it will suit your temperament. The core is a Veela hair, powerful and dextrous but far too selective, it is not a core that I use but I suspect it will probably be the only one which will work for you." He handed her a light grey polished wand, with intricate scroll work in the a flame pattern. Instantly upon touching her hand it felt warm to the touch and a surge of energy flew through her arm and her golden locks flowed in a nonexistent wind.

Ollivander smiled satisfied. "Well at least I can still say that I have always found the right wand, I can no longer claim to have made every wand that fits." Cat loved the feel of the wand and refused to put it back in the box after her father had paid eleven Galleons for it. Saw McGonagall and her mother waiting outside.

"Happy Birthday dear." Her mother held up a cage in which sat a pretty tawny owl with big amber eyes and golden brown feathers. It nibbled at her finger after she fed it some of the treats Audrey handed her and she loved it.
"You'll have to think of a name for her now she's yours. But first we need to grab your school books and then go have lunch after which I'll have to leave you."

It didn't take them long to get her school books as the shop appeared to have emptied over lunch bar a few customers. Cat insisted on picking up some extra books such as Hogwarts a History and Quidditch teams of Britain and Ireland, so that she would have something to talk about with other kids next time she was introduced. Staggering under the weight of her books, equipment and the robes they'd picked up they made their way to the leaky cauldron. McGonagall had gone with her mother and picked up a large blue steamer trunk with embossed in gold letters on the lid and both ends. They put all their purchases bar the wand into the trunk before McGonagall cast temporary shrinking and weightless charms on it so that Jack could fit it into his pocket. They released her new owl after telling it their address and went and had lunch. At the end of the meal McGonagall rose and stated.

"It has been a pleasure to watch you grow Catherine and now to see you go into the wizarding world. I'll see you on September the first at Hogwarts. Remember what I told you, walk through the barrier between platform nine and ten after saying goodbye to your parents. Goodbye till then Miss Edwards."

"Goodbye Professor McGonagall."

Review please. I'd use the 'it'll speed me up threat' but I can't seem to resist updating for more than a day or two so that'd be an empty threat. See you next time.