Hi, I'm back again with a new chapter. A long chapter by the way.

Alex was filled from head to toe with trepidation. Today would be the day that he would be entering the wizarding world for the very first time.

There were only two weeks before he had to board a so-called 'Platform nine and three quarters' and today was the only day that the one of the teachers at the school had made an appointment to meet at the Rider residence to help him with buying his school things at 'Diagon Alley'. This had to be organised by post, not telephone, something that they weren't accustomed to in this day and age.

Uncle Ian had agreed to let Alex attend a school of wizardry on one condition: that he could go with Alex to Diagon Alley and judge the validity of magic for himself. Despite everything, he was still sceptical.

A couple of weeks before, Alex said goodbye to all of his school friends and promised to maybe write to them when he left to attend boarding school. He was sad to leave his friends behind but hoped that he would be able to make new friends where he would be going. He had been able to do that before in Germany, France, Spain and other places where Uncle Ian had taken him.

Alex had to lie to his friends that he would be attending a small boarding school set in a remote area of Scotland because Uncle Ian's work with the bank required him to travel more and more frequently. The man who had visited him on his birthday had told them that sharing the secret of magic with anyone else was strictly forbidden. Besides, Alex knew how his friends would react to being told something like that.

"Alex, you know you should be getting ready – it's almost 9:45." said Jack when she knocked on his bedroom door. Alex was ready, well sort of – as ready as someone can be when they are told they will be entering the Wizarding World. He was dressed and everything, he was just spending a couple of minuets reading over the list of items he needed to buy. A standard size 2 pewter cauldron? A cat, an owl or a toad? It was just baffling and intruging.

At ten o'clock a witch appeared at their doorstep. The woman was dressed in a long, flowing maroon dress. She took no hesitation in introducing herself as Professor Septima Vector, and then explained that she taught Arithmacy at Hogwarts and that she would be assisting them with the purchasing of Alex's school supplies. To Alex she seemed very strict and forbidding but Uncle Ian perceived her behaviour as professional.

"Now, I will show you where to go. Diagon Alley isn't far from here so it will be easy to just walk there and take subway. Usually I would just hold your hands and apparate somewhere close. Once someone shows you The Leaky Cauldron, you can enter it yourselves. You are more than welcome to ask me questions about Hogwarts and the wizarding world in general, that's why professors are allocated to help future students with entering Diagon Alley."

They then proceeded to follow Professor Vector around London. Jack and Ian asked her questions on the way but Alex found himself feeling rather shy. Or rather, he was stumped on finding questions to ask.

"Wow, it's a long way." Jack moaned. It was obviously further then she had hoped it would be. She also seemed to be uncomfortable with the glances that Professor Vector's unconventional dress style was attracting.

"Don't worry, we aren't far now. See -" she pointed to a place in the distance, "it's just there."

"We could have easily just driven here by car. There are plenty of parks outside." Uncle Ian sighed.

"Car?" Professor Vector stammered, "Why would we want to use a car to get here? Surely walking is easier. Surely messing with all those gears and leavers is more effort than what it's worth."

"Umm, No," Jack shook her head, "It would have been much easier and much less time consuming. You could have just told us to drive to Charing Cross Road."

"I find cars rather unnerving. I've always wondered how such a big metal thing can move by itself without the help of magic."

Uncle Ian took care not to appear patronising, "It actually rather easy to drive them once you are taught how. Basically, cars are an intricate system that relies on the burning of petrol to power the primary engine that in turn, powers movement and other functions. Do you understand how magic works? You don't seem to be disturbed by using magic."

Professor Vector thought about this for a moment, "Magic is described as the ability to alter the fabric of reality using innate, inherited ability. It is not fully understood but fundamental laws have been established."

Before the adults around him could get themselves into a deep philosophical discussion about the essence of magic, Alex decided that this was the perfect opportunity to ask a question before they reached The Leaky Cauldron and entered the wizarding world. He had only just thought of the question just moments before and he was almost desperate to know the answer.

"Professor Vector?"

"Yes, dear boy?"

"Are wizards born to non-magical parents common?"

"I would say that they are uncommon but not unusual or rare. It is rare that non-magical people, 'muggles', produce a magical child and extremely rare that magical people produce a non-magical child, a 'squib'. I'd say about a sixth of all wizards are true muggle-borns. There are others are born to muggle born parents or are muggle born but can recall wizarding background through squib parents, grandparents or even great grandparents. They are becoming more and more common as traditional wizarding families, purebloods, are dying out. Most wizards are 'half-blood' per se and have both magical and non-magical relatives. Don't worry Alex; you won't be the only one in your first year who won't have had much experience with the magic world. "

This made Alex feel a bit more comfortable.

"So," Uncle Ian concurred, "Magic is a genetic trait? Passed down through generations?"

"Yes," Professor Vector said after a minutes thought, "I suppose it is."

They soon stopped outside what Alex could see was a small restaurant that had a sign out that only had a picture of a cauldron with a crack at the bottom leaking its content. It was between a vintage record shop and a bookshop.

"Well, I don't see anything. There's only a record shop and a bookstore." Uncle Ian lamented.

"I can see a 'Danger, keep out!' Sign in front of a decrepit, old building." Jack stated rather confused.

"Now this is The Leaky Cauldron. There are muggle repellent spells put in place to make sure that no non-magic folk enter by accident. Muggles must purposely know the place is here. Apparently different muggles see different things; I came across a muggle mother a couple of years back who saw a camping supplies shop."

"Oh! I can see it now!" Jack exclaimed excitedly, "It just changed before my eyes."

"Woah!" Uncle Ian's mouth opened in shock, "I've experienced some pretty unbelievable stuff in my life but nothing like this."

"Are you all ready?" Professor Vector asked as they were about to enter. Clearly glad that Alex's guardians could finally see the building they were looking for.

Alex nodded his head as did Jack. Uncle Ian reached into his bag to bring something out. Alex knew it was a video camera, his suspicious uncle liked proof and evidence for everything. Professor Vector had no idea what it was and simply looked over it.

Two MI6 agents had been assigned to monitor Ian Rider for a week. He wasn't under official investigation; it was just standard routine for MI6 agents to be check for their loyalties.

Today was an interesting development. They had discovered Ian Rider, his eleven year old nephew and his American housekeeper Jack Starbright following a strangely dressed woman across Charing Cross Road.

"She just looks like a weird hippy," said Jeremiah through binoculars, "I've never seen hippies wear maroon though. Drive a bit closer towards them, Charlie. Let's take a better look."

Slowly, but surely Charlie drove the inconspicuous white Toyota closer so they could see the woman better. The group looked like it was in quite deep discussion.

"Should we try to do an identity scan on the woman?" He asked.

"Umm… No," decided Jeremiah, "There is still no evidence to believe that Rider's loyalties are in question. We'll just continue to watch."

The group stopped right between a record shop and a bookshop. Jeremiah could see a dodgy little fish and chip shop, something utterly uninteresting to someone who detested all forms of seafood. He had a feeling that the place would smell so bad he would want to vomit.

"Hmm… Why did they stop in front of a kitchenware shop?" Charlie muttered. Jeremiah was sure that his partner was starting to go mad; there was no kitchenware shop anywhere. However, he didn't say anything.

To their utter surprise the group vanished nowhere to be seen. It seemed as though they had simply vanished.

"They vanished right before my eyes. Where did they go?" asked Charlie. Jeremiah shook his head.

They waited a few minutes but to no avail, the group had not returned. They would later leave and write the incident in their report. They would check the Rider residence the next day to find Ian back at his house. There was nothing to suggest that Ian was up to no good but the incident at Charing Cross Road did interest their superiors.

It was rather dark in The Leaky Cauldron and there was a musty, old and wooden smell. Despite this it seemed to be quite a popular restaurant; Wizards were dining on tables spread around the place, eating what seemed to be rather unusual dishes. A few diners began to notice their presence; their ordinary clothes were out of place around people wearing cloaks and robes. There were others who were startled by the contraption that Uncle Ian was holding in his hand.

"Oh!" exclaimed Jack on entering the building, "Look at the pictures around the room, they're moving! They're moving!"

It was true, the pictures were moving. Both Alex and Jack took time to look at the paintings and marvelled at the fact that they could move. Some portraits even waved back at them, which was friendly. Uncle Ian however, seemed irritated by the fact that his camera had stopped working and spent some time just trying to make his camera work. It wasn't long before he gave up.

"We first have to exchange some of your money for wizarding money then we can go shopping. Be careful to follow me."

After going through the gateway of moving bricks, Alex and his guardians spent some time just being bewildered by all the shops and stalls of Diagon Alley. It wasn't hard for the three of them to enjoy the ambiance of the magical world. There was so much to see and do. Alex spotted jars filled with eyes, broomsticks, a menagerie of odd looking animals, lots of delicious candy and ice cream, a wand shop and a joke shop.

At least they weren't the only ones not dressed in robes, many teenagers were dressed in normal attire for their age (often gothic-like and black or sometimes just plain normal). There was a family being led by a greasy looking wizard with shoulder length black hair and a hooked nose. The family of three were dressed in expensive attire that signified that they were upper class. Their son looked about his age. They seemed as happy to be escorted by this man as he did escorting them… It was strong loathing.

When they had finally arrived Gringotts, Professor Vector issued a warning:

"Now, inside will be goblins. Don't be alarmed by them, they are just doing their job. Be polite to them and they will not be any trouble. Okay?"

They all nodded. They tried to get all of their money converted as quickly as possible and left. Jack seemed to be especially frightened by goblins, especially when the goblin serving them gave a big toothy smile. Alex had to admit that they also disturbed him.

They then proceeded to purchase more of Alex's school belongings. Books and other normal items first, then there were the more interesting purchases. When Alex had to choose between an owl, a cat or a toad; it was a no brainer. Alex was allergic to cats, Professor Vector also told him that toads were unpopular and that owls were very useful. So, they bought a barn owl at Jack's selection (she claimed it was the cutest one there).

They had stopped at a safety gear shop at Uncle Ian's insistence. He seemed to be especially interested in buying a sneak-o-scope, an anti-intruder deterrent and an invisibility cloak. He was extremely disappointed when he was told that muggles were not allowed to purchase these items, no matter how useful he might find them. Alex comforted him by buying a small protective stone that he could keep with him. He also bought one for Jack.

Professor Vector then escorted them to Ollivanders so Alex could buy a wand. A wispy, grey-haired wizard measured him briefly, then placed a wand in Alex's hand and told him to 'give it a wave'.

He did so and smashed all the glass in the window in front of him. The old wizard seemed undisturbed by this; apparently he was absolutely okay with have his window blown to smithereens by an eleven year old.

"No, no, that one will not do," he muttered as he took the wand from Alex's hand and searched for another one, "Try this one and don't worry about making a mess, I can easily fix it once you leave. I have been doing this job for over 60 years and it's happened for everyone who has bought a wand here."

After about a successive seventeen wands, he, Jack, Professor Vector and his Uncle were starting to get tired. He had also succeeded in destroying most of the shop by then. Ollivander however, stated that he liked a picky customer.

"Alex," Jack lamented, "You're even worse than I am with shoe shopping."

Finally, once after Alex had tried about twenty five wands there was clearly a match. A series of firework-like multi-coloured sparks came from the tip.

"Ah! We have found the match for the difficult customer! 13 and a half inches, Larch, phoenix feather and slightly springy. You must be an interesting boy!"

So, they paid Ollivander eight galleons, thanked him and took no hesitation in leaving the shop.

"Now, to cross platform nine and three quarters it is better off watching other families do it before you. It is between platforms nine and ten. I've got more instructions written here," Professor Vector passed Alex a small piece of paper, "If there is anything else that you are interested in or inquiries you might want to ask, now is the time. If not, this is it. I will escort you all out."

"Thank you for helping my nephew and escorting us around this confusing place."

Professor Vector smiled at them, feeling rather flattered, "It has been a pleasure."

Once they had left The Leaky Cauldron to return to Charing Cross Road, Uncle Ian had called a taxi to take them home once his mobile phone was working again. He and Jack were both completely exhausted; however Uncle Ian was deep in thought.

"Oh, are you the usual odd people who come from Charing Cross Road?" inquired the taxi driver at the sight of his caged owl.

"Yes," Alex said with a smile.

Once they had arrived home, Alex placed all his new school stuff in his room and lay down on the bed. He had seen enough exotic and unusual things for one day and there was sure to be more to come.

A/N: Thank you for reading this far, I know that this is an abnormally long chapter! :D Reviews and help with grammar are always appreciated. On holidays, so expect a bit more writing from me at the moment. The poll for what Hogwarts house you would like Alex to be in is still open and on my profile page. Vote before it is too late!