Natasha was up before her alarm clock went off, not even giving the sun the chance to creep in through her curtains. She was beyond excited for today; she and her father were going to London to get her supplies for school. Her school supplies for Hogwarts, she thought to herself. A school for witches and wizards. She was a witch, how awesome was that?
Quickly she raced to her dresser to pull on her clothes for the day, a red shirt and khaki capris, and pulled her shoulder length strawberry blonde hair into a pony. She made her bed a little quickly and a bit hap hazardly, before darting downstairs. Her father wasn't up yet, and she figured he wouldn't be, it was still really early in the morning. She decided to pass the time by making breakfast for them since she had a long day ahead of her.
She had just finished pulling the last pancake off of the griddle when he father came walking in the kitchen. His chocolate brown hair was sticking up at weird angles and she couldn't help but giggle at him as he yawned and scratched his belly.
"Morning Daddy." Natasha giggled, placing the plate of pancakes in front of him.
"Morning pumpkin." He mumbled, stifling another yawn. "Oh pancakes!"
They ate while discussing the day's events, what they needed to do and what they needed to bring. It was over a 2 hour drive from Bristol to London so they would have to be leaving soon. Back to school shopping always took hours so they both knew this was going to be an all-day event. After they were finished eating Natasha quickly did the dishes while her father got changed. Checking to make sure they had everything they needed, keys, wallet, school list, and map, they headed out the door and were on their way to London.
The Leaky Cauldron looked to be your average pub. Natasha couldn't help but notice all the people who passed by almost like it wasn't even there. Then she remembered what Mrs. Fogbottom had told them, Muggles literally COULDN'T see it. The only reason her father could actually see it was because he needed too, he needed to get through the Leaky Cauldron so they could get to Diagon Alley and her school supplies.
"Hello there." A woman greeted them friendly. "You must be Natasha and Victor Gates, Matilda told me to expect you." She reached her hand out to shake both of their hands.
"Yes you must he Hannah. Mrs. Fogbottom said you would show us how to get into Diagon Alley," Victor grasped her hand and firmly shook it. "And that you would help us with setting up a bank account at Gringotts so we can convert our money into the wizard money."
"Of course I would be more than happy to help you out. Let me just get my husband to cover the pub while we are out." Hannah nodded to them before heading up a flight of stairs. She was only gone for a moment before she came back down the stairs this time with a tall man following behind her. "This is my husband Neville." She said as they both shook hands with him.
"A first year new to Hogwarts huh?" Neville asked inclining his head to Natasha.
"Yes sir."
"Well that's great. I will be seeing a lot of you than. I teach Herbology and I am also the head of Gryffindor house." Neville said with a big smile.
"Oh it's nice to be able to meet a teacher." Victor said, reaching his hand out to shake the other man's hand again.
"Alright sweetie I should be back in no more than an hour. Try not to catch the place on fire."
"Come on that only happened once." Neville said sheepishly running his hand over the back of his neck, prompting an eye roll from his wife.
Quickly Hannah gathered up her things and led the way through the pub and out the back door. What they were greeted with was a small dirty back alley with a few trash cans and an old brick wall. Both father and daughter looked at each other in confusion as Hannah pulled a wand out of her bag and made her way over to the brick wall. They watched in silence as Hannah counted three up and two across, and then tapped the stone brick there three times with her wand.
The wall rumbled as the bricks folded back on each other presenting a beautiful archway to the wizard market place that was Diagon Alley. "Wow." Both Natasha and Victor murmured at the same time.
Hannah couldn't stop the giggle that slipped from her mouth. "I guess being Muggle born, watching the wall open is more amazing than it is for the rest of us. Truly shows how much awe and wonder we take for granted." She said as she put her wand back in her bag. "Come on this way to Gringotts."
Together the small group made their way down the cobble stone street. It was fairly crowded, people in cloaks of all sorts of colors made their way in and out of streets. Most shops seemed to have additional little stalls out in front of them. Natasha's eyes roamed over everything as they walked by all the stores, taking it all in. After they went to the bank she was curious as to where they would start first.
"Alright this is Gringotts." Hannah said stopping out front of a large white crooked multi story building. "Oh before we go in I need to warn you, this bank is run by Goblins, they are incredibly smart but foul tempered, so you might want to refrain from staring."
"Goblins?" Victor questioned. "I need to get to a point where none of this comes as a surprise to me anymore, but I have a feeling that may take a while."
"I'm sorry Daddy, I make things complicated don't I?" Natasha asked a slight catch in her throat.
"Oh no sweetie, it's ok." Victor patted his daughter on the shoulder. "Remember all this makes you a very special girl, this will just take some getting used to is all."
The group made their way into the bank, finding an unoccupied teller; they started in on setting up a bank account for Natasha with wizard money. Victor was informed that he could write a check from his Muggle bank and that the goblins would be able to transfer it to Natasha's account and into Muggle money. He had been saving for her school since his wife, rest her soul, first found out she was pregnant, and his high powered job had allowed him to save a lot. In the span of 11 years he already had nearly a quarter million dollars for her to go to school with. He handed the goblin a check from her school account in the amount of 45,000 pounds, giving her wizard bank the amount of just over 70,000 Galleons. He was confident that would hold her for a while.
Victor also wrote another check to be cashed right away so that they could get her school supplies. The goblin handed over a black draw string pouch. He told them the pouch was enchanted with a charm giving it three separate pockets. Knuts were in one pocket, Sickles were in the middle, and Galleons were in the last. After everything was done they thanked the goblin who simply growled at them, as they left.
"Thank you so much for helping with that." Victor said to Hannah.
"You are quite welcome." She replied with a smile. "Now I must apologize I have to get back to the Leaky Cauldron."
"Of course."
"Now you have your map of Diagon Alley and your school supplies list right?" Hannah asked wanting to make sure the Muggle family would be fine alone. Victor dug into his pants pocket and pulled out 2 pieces of parchment and showed them to her. "Excellent." She reached into her bag and pulled out a simple looking blue bag. "This has an extension charm on it; use it to carry all your school supplies in."
"Thank you so much." Natasha said grabbing the bag.
"Make sure you say bye to me before you head back to Bristol." She said as she waved at them, heading back down the street and back to The Leaky Cauldron.
"We will, and thanks again." Victor said as both he and his daughter waved back. "So where to first?" Victor asked looking down at his daughter.
Victor leaned down with the map to show it to his daughter. "Let's start over on that side." Natasha said pointing at the far end of Diagon Alley away from The Leaky Cauldron. "At Ollivander's Wand Shop, and make our way back."
"Great idea." Victor said with a nod and they were off.
Natasha couldn't help but notice the stares they got. Their clothes were so different from the witches and wizards that walked the streets; they stood out like a sore thumb. It had to be obvious to everyone that she was a Muggle. She just prayed she wouldn't get bullied and harassed for it. She had dealt with enough bullying to last her a life time.
Natasha opened the door to Ollivander's and entered first with her father close behind her. "Good afternoon to you. I am Mr. Ollivander and will be with you in just a moment. " A man called from the back of the store. Natasha's eyes settled on an older man who was putting away long thin boxes on a shelf. He smiled brightly as he made his way over to them.
"New student to Hogwarts are you? Isn't getting your first wand exciting?" He asked as he pulled out a small tape measure and started measuring out Natasha's hand, then up to her arm. Victor took up a chair by the door and just sat and watched sure there was a method to what the old man was doing.
"Actually this is all new to me, so while yes I am excited I am quite nervous too." Natasha said as she curiously watched the old man measure her from shoulder to elbow.
"Don't worry about being Muggle born. There is a wand in here for you I am sure. I have never not been able to find a witch or wizard their wand." He made his way over to a shelf and looked at the wands for a moment before selecting one and giving the wand to Natasha. "9 inch aspen with a dragon heartstring. Go on give it a wave."
Natasha did as told but nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander took the wand from her, put it back in the box and left it on the counter. He went back to his wall of boxes and pulled out another box. Again nothing happened. For several minutes Mr. Ollivander went back and forth between his walls of boxes and Natasha. He handed her wand after wand and each time nothing happened. The stack of wands on the counter was starting to become overwhelming. Natasha was starting to believe maybe there had been some sort of mistake and she wasn't a witch.
"Try this one." Mr. Ollivander said pulling yet another wand out of a box. "10 ΒΌ inch cherry wood with a unicorn hair." He handed the wand to her.
The moment the wand touched her fingers she felt warmth rush through her body, it felt so right. For what seemed to be the hundredth time, Natasha waved her arm. A book on a shelf in the far corner flew off the shelf and nearly hit poor Mr. Ollivander in the head. If he hadn't managed to duck, he probably would have been knocked unconscious.
"I am so sorry!" Natasha gasped and her father jumped to his feet.
"It's quite alright, worse has happened to me before. I am just so happy we were able to find your wand." He said with a smile taking the wand from her hand and placing it back in the box. He gave the wand in its box back to Natasha who in turn placed it in the bag Hannah gave her.
Her father paid for the wand as they said their thanks and headed back out to the busy streets. One item down so many more to go. They looked at the map and noticed the next stop was 'Amanuensis Quills' which was a quick stop to stock her up on the quills and ink and parchment she would need. It was odd she was so used to pens, she would now have to get used to writing with a quill.
'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions' was the next stop. That shop wasn't nearly as interesting as Ollivander's and was mainly her standing on a stool for about an hour getting measured for her school uniform. Never in her life did Natasha have to stand still for so long at one time. When it was all done she thought her legs were going to fall off.
They went acrossed the street afterwards to 'Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor' for a quick snack before they headed back acrossed the street to 'Flourish and Blotts' to get Natasha's school books. A friendly woman helped them out and they were able to get all of her first year books in just a short time.
Natasha placed all of the books into the bag and was surprised to find out it didn't weigh any more than it did when it was empty. Magic truly was an amazing thing. As they exited the store, a mother and daughter duo entered. Natasha heard the mother whisper something under her breath but didn't catch it; she was too focused on the daughter.
The girl had a hood up but that didn't stop Natasha from getting a good look at her as they passed by. The girl had to be the same age as she was, although she was a few inches taller than Natasha was. Her straight black hair was pulled back into the hood making Natasha wonder how long it was. The girl had the most beautiful pair of sky blue eyes that gave her an almost haunted like appearance.
"Natasha did you hear me?" Victor's voice suddenly cut through the daze and she was forced to turn and look at him.
"Umm no Daddy I didn't I'm sorry." She said as she glanced over her shoulder and back at the store where the girl had gone into.
"I said did you want to get your owl next?"
That perked her interest. "Oh yes let's do that one next."
They made their way into 'Eeylop's Owl Emporium'. The store housed dozens of cages with owls of different shapes and sizes in them. As they entered the shop they noticed as a man quickly pulled a sheet over the fireplace, they thought it a little odd but thought better than to ask.
"Can I help you?" He asked a little nervously.
"I am looking for an owl." Natasha said like it should have been the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh yes, feel free to look around and let me know if there is one you are interested in."
Natasha walked around and looked at all the owls. Some hooted at her as she went by but for the most part they were all snoozing. There were so many of them and they were all beautiful, she knew she would have a hard time choosing.
A loud crash from the back room caused her to look up from the snowy owl she was looking at. An Eastern grass owl came crashing out of the back room, flying around the room erratically for a moment causing the shop keeper to yell at it, before it settled on Natasha's shoulder.
"Hello there." Natasha whispered to the bird. It cocked its head at her and hooted. "Wow you're really pretty." She said as her eyes roamed over his dark brown feathers that was dusted with light spots. The owl looked down at her before nudging his beak to her head nibbling slightly on her hair.
"Ugh this bird is a bloody jinx!" The shop keeper groaned as he stormed over to them.
The owl noticed him and hooted loudly before fluttering over to Natasha's other shoulder and a bit further away from the incoming wizard.
"Jinx hu?" Natasha asked, raising a hand up to the bird perched on her shoulder running her fingers through the white feathers on its chest. "I'll take it."
"You want that bird?" The shop keeper questioned. "But he's a bloody menace!"
Natasha looked from the bird to the shop keeper. "I like him."
"Fine, you will be doing me a favor so just take him." The shop keeper sighed. He went back into the back for a moment before coming back out with a cage.
"Come on Jinx back in your cage." Natasha said and to her amazement the owl did as she said. She hadn't expected to get a free bird but was very happy with the one she got.
Natasha and her father where getting down to the bottom of her school list. A quick stop into 'Potage's Cauldron Shop' for her cauldron and a stop in 'Slug & Jiggers Apothecary Shop' for the rest and they were finally done. They had spent the better part of their day in Diagon Alley and now that it was dinner time they decided to stop into The Leaky Cauldron for dinner seeing as they skipped lunch, before they headed home.
Now that she had all of her school supplies Natasha's excitement built to an extreme level. She couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts. After witnessing firsthand all the wonders of the Wizarding world, she couldn't wait to start doing it all herself. Just a month left to go before school started. She couldn't believe she was actually thinking this, but she wished summer vacation was over already.